


Phoenix

by snuttlebug



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Dai Matou Enbu | Grand Magic Games Arc, Demons, F/M, Flashbacks, Memories, Memory Loss, Original Character(s), Platonic Female/Male Relationships, Post-Dai Matou Enbu | Grand Magic Games Arc, Pre-Dai Matou Enbu | Grand Magic Games Arc, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-30
Updated: 2021-02-13
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:00:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 148
Words: 229,930
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24993496
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snuttlebug/pseuds/snuttlebug
Summary: A girl with memory loss has been traveling with Laxus Dreyar for two years, living in a small house in the woods by Hargeon. When Fairy Tail finds her, they are shocked to see that Laxus has been protecting her for years. But when the Grand Magic Games come around, she is faced with someone from her past. Will her memories recover? Will her love return?Slight!Laxus x OCEventual!Sting x OC
Relationships: Laxus Dreyar/Original Female Character(s), Sting Eucliffe/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 13
Kudos: 60





	1. Chapter 1

Hey everyone! So just a couple things as far as plotholes and stuff. 

For sake of plot convenience, Laxus's exile lasts about three years before Fairy Tail is able to locate him. Further adjustments to the plot will probably happen later, but nothing too major.

EDIT: Okay another change is in this book, basically all the main characters are the same age, whether it be in the "present" or in a memory. In the present, they are all around 22.

For a little bit of information on the main character. Her name is Emiko, but everyone just calls her Emi (Laxus calls her Em). She has white hair and grey eyes. She's about five feet tall and LOVES flowers. She has a black tattoo on her right arm, but it's usually hidden when she wears her cloak. The outfit is probably just going to be whatever you decide because I don't really remember mentioning it.


	2. Soup and Gardens

“Laxus!”

In return, the mentioned wizard looked up from organizing his designated cabinet. 

“What do you want? Can’t you see that I’m cleaning? You know, the thing you forced me to do today.”

The white-haried woman simply chuckled. She made her way over to the wizard before jumping on his back. 

“I need you to help me reach something.”

“Why can’t you do it yourself? I’m busy.”

“Because you’re taller than me by like a foot and I need to get the extra broth for the soup I’m making tonight.”

Laxus grunted and turned back to his cabinet. Sensing his disinterest, Emi continued.

“Unless, of course, you don’t want to eat tonight. I would be more than happy to not cook.”

Laxus suddenly stood up and straightened his back, causing the girl to slightly fall off his back before grabbing onto his neck. Laxus wordlessly made his way over to the top of the fridge and reached for the unopened container of broth. He looked at her with his usual bored look and shook the box of broth as to show her that he listened. 

“Thanks, Laxus! You’re a lifesaver.”

Emi jumped down from his back and took the box of broth from his hands before making her way over to the stove. An oversized pot sat on the stove, where carrots and noodles laid on the side. 

Laxus returned to his cabinet, sitting down in front of it and taking out all the plastic containers and stacking them neatly. Emi looked over at him as she heard a loud sigh. She walked silently over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. 

“Why don’t we stop for today. You look like you could use a break.”

Laxus did not even look up from his work as he said, “Well yeah. It’s been like two hours and you made me clean out the most difficult cabinets.”

Emi looked at Laxus with a small smile on her face. 

“Tell you what - I’ll finish up with preparing dinner and after we can go to the gardens! I know how much you like seeing the flowers.”

The lightning wizard made eye contact with Emi and sighed again.

“ _You’re_ the one who likes the gardens so much. Everytime you want to go you drag me with you and spend hours there. You’re just rewarding yourself.”

Upon hearing this, Emi gave a sly look to the wizard.

“Yes, but _you_ like the ice cream stand that’s next to the gardens. And I think we have enough money left over from that Vulcan job you took last week to get some. So what do you say? You up for it?”

Laxus and Emi looked at each other for what seemed like forever before Laxus stood up and stretched as he said, “ _One hour_ at the gardens. No more.”

Emi’s eyes lit up, giving a big smile to Laxus and clapping her hands together to show her approval. 

“And no less!”

\-----------------------

After finishing up cutting all the vegetables for the soup, Emi dragged Laxus out of the house and sprinted to the gardens. When she saw the vast amount of flowers, her eyes sparkled. 

“Laxus look! They added more flowers! These purple ones weren’t here the last time we came.”

Emi ran over to the new additions and squatted down in front of them. 

“Why don’t you just sit on the bench like a normal person instead of sitting right in front of the flowers? You’re blocking other people from seeing them.”

“ _Because_ , the bench is too far away to really appreciate the beauty of the flowers! You can’t see the way that the petals fold from so far away! And what about the smell? I can’t smell them from the bench. I don’t have a super sensitive nose like you.”

Laxus looked around at the gardens. He would never admit it to her, but he enjoyed watching Emi get so excited about the flowers. He knew that she was having a hard time recovering her memory, and he was glad that she was able to find something that she remembered liking. 

Without him realizing, Emi had drifted off to another section of the gardens. Moments later, she made her way back and walked towards the wizard.

“Laxus!”

“Now what do you want?”

Emi reached the dragon slayer and showed him a flower necklace.

“This guy gave me two of these!”

Emi then put one of the necklaces around her neck, saying, “Which means I can have one…”

She then leaned up to his neck and placed the second one on him, finishing, “And you can have one!”

The look on the wizard’s face could tell it all; he was annoyed at the sight of himself wearing flowers. He was supposed to be a “tough guy,” and here he was, wearing a flower necklace in public. 

“Hey brat! The hour’s up.”

Emi saw his annoyance and giggled. She grabbed his hand and started walking towards the exit. She looked back at him as she made her way through the gardens. 

“Well then, let’s get some ice cream!”

“You know, it would’ve been a lot more efficient if we got ice cream before we spent an hour looking at flowers so that way I would’ve had something to eat.”

“If you keep complaining I’m going to put celery in the soup.”

Laxus stopped walking, causing Emi to be pulled back by the strength in his grip. He stared at her intently before his bored expression popped back onto his face. 

“Fine. Let’s just get the ice cream and finally be done with it. I’m hungry.”

“Of course you are. Now let’s go!”  
\-------------------

“So I was thinking that I should put more carrots in the soup. What do you think? Did I cut up enough carrots? I can….” 

Laxus’s mind drifted, not paying any attention to what the woman was saying. Laxus and Emi took the long, more scenic way back to the house, taking in the cool night of a rather hot summer day. Every now and then, people would double-take at the sight of the lightning mage, seeing him casually in town. The former Fairy Tail wizard made no sign of noticing, as he had gotten used to the stares since he was expelled. Emi, too, paid no attention to the stares. This was, of course, mostly because she was completely oblivious when it came to that sort of thing. 

“Laxus, are you listening? This is important.”

Laxus gave Emi a bored side glance before responding, saying, “And how, may I ask, are carrots important?”

Emi spun around to face him and said, very seriously, “Carrots are the most important thing in a soup! The ratio has to be just right or else it tastes weird. How can carrots not be important!”

The pair arrived at the house and Emi entered the kitchen to start making dinner. Laxus made his way out to the small hill that is located right behind their house, sitting and looking up at the sky. He never used to do this, but Emi had made a habit of forcing him out here and looking at the clouds during the day. She was childish afterall, and she would point out the different shapes that she would see. Laxus would, however, just stare at the sky and see boring circles. 

Emi hummed to herself as she dumped the vegetables into the broth. She used a wooden spoon to stir the mixture, making sure to add the noodles without splashing the hot soup. Once the string noodles were soft, she used her spoon to cut them up while still in the pot. Nobody knew why she did it this way, least of all herself, but this was the way that she always made soup. 

“Laxus!”

Upon hearing his name being called, Laxus made his way back to the kitchen.

“How many times are you going to call my name today?”

“As many times as I need to get your attention. Dinner is ready!”

Emi poured the hot soup into a serving bowl and placed it on the table. Laxus huffed and sat down at his usual seat. The table had room for six, but Laxus always sat on the left chair on the side facing away from the wall. Emi made her way to her usual chair, the one opposite Laxus and facing the wall. 

Laxus eyed the soup with suspicion, causing Emi to look up at him. 

“Why are you staring at it? Aren’t you going to get some?”

“Em…”

Emi looked up confused and watched his expression turn disinterested again.

“Nevermind. Let’s eat. The only thing you ate today was ice cream.”

“Better than nothing!”

“It really isn’t.”

Emi happily scooped soup into her bowl, making sure to take an even number of carrots, another weird habit of hers. Laxus stared at the soup once more before carefully scooping it into a bowl. He could tell. He could smell it. 

“You’re staring at it again!”

“You eat it first.”

“What? Why? I didn’t poison it!”

He could smell it. He could tell. His nose could smell it clearly. 

“Eat it first.”

“No! Now I want you to eat it first!”

“Brat, just eat the soup. You’ll understand why once you taste it.”

Emi huffed, rolling her eyes at Laxus before picking up her spoon and taking a small amount of soup from her bowl. She lifted the spoon dramatically to her mouth, as if to show Laxus that she was in fact eating it. _Why was he acting so weird about it? It’s just soup!_

Emi realized her mistake as soon as the soup hit her tongue. Her tongue burned and she started coughing. She tried catching her breath. She looked up to Laxus, who had a facial expression that can be described as a mixture of smug and bored, and put her hands up. 

“Do you taste it now?”

Emi looked down at her bowl and muttered, “I don’t know how this keeps happening. I followed the recipe perfectly!”

“I think you added an extra ingredient, yes?”

Defeated, she replied, “Yes.”

Laxus looked at her from across the table, pushing her for more of an answer: “And that extra ingredient would be?”

Emi looked up briefly before breaking eye contact again and staring at her bowl. She played with her fingers as she muttered an answer.

“...Hot sauce.”

“Exactly.”


	3. Meeting Team Natsu

Team Natsu had arrived at the town of Hargeon, making their way to the house of the people who made the request. Erza and her carriage of luggage led the way, and Natsu and Happy came up at the tail end, as Natsu was still recovering from the train ride. Wendy, Lucy and Gray were chatting in the middle. Lucy turned back to Natsu.

“Hey, Natsu. Isn’t this the town that you destroyed that day we met?”

Happy was the one to reply, as Natsu was still in no mood to talk: “Aye, sir! Natsu completely beat up that Bora dude and took out the port with it!”

Natsu grumbled in response. He suddenly stopped, his nose catching the scent of someone familiar. 

“Hey guys, do you smell that?”

“No, Flamebrain, you’re the one with the nose around here.”

“You wanna go?!”

Erza decided to intervene, giving the two wizards a frightening stare. Once they were settled down, Erza questioned Natsu: “Now, which smell are you talking about? And do you know who it belongs to?”

Natsu thought for a moment, eyebrows furrowed together in concentration. 

Lucy interjected: “Wow, I haven’t seen Natsu this deep in concentration since that food-eating contest.”

“Aye, sir!”

Natsu finally looked up and made eye contact with Erza: “Nope! Not a clue! I just know it’s someone we know.”

Everyone looked down in defeat. 

Lucy was the first one to speak up, saying, “Well, so much for that discovery.”

Team Natsu followed the directions given to them by the request board, and it led to an old house near the ports. The job request sounded easy: capture the giant squid haunting the ports. Apparently, this squid has been stopping ships from leaving the port, and the fishermen’s trading industry was hurting because of it. 

The team quickly dealt with the squid, taking out a section of the port along the way, and made their way back to the house of the person who made the request to collect the reward. As they were making their way back to the train station, Natsu’s nose picked up the familiar scent again. 

“There it is again!”

Happy flew towards Natsu and questioned, “There what is again?”

“That scent! It’s near here!”

Erza was the one to speak up: “Well, we have extra time because the job was so easily taken care of. I wouldn’t mind if we tried to figure out who it is. I am very interested in this.”

Lucy looked at the pair cautiously, saying, “I don’t know. Don’t you think the master will want us back soon?”

Gray added, “Yeah he said that he wanted us back for a meeting or something.”

“I’m sure,” Erza continued, “that we will be back before that meeting takes place. This seems like a rather simple quest, yes?”

Lucy and Gray quickly responded, “Yes, ma’am!”

Natsu looked at Wendy suspiciously, “Hey Wendy, do you know who’s scent it is? You can help track it!”

Wendy looked down, saying, “I’m sorry, Natsu, but I’m not picking up on a familiar scent. It must be someone that you know and I don’t.”

“Well,” Erza started, “let’s go. We must make it back for the master’s meeting.”

\----------------

After a few minutes, Natsu had successfully located the direction of the scent. The team followed Natsu’s nose to an alley between shops. In the alley, there stood a person in a cloak. They seemed to be cutting through the alley as a shortcut, so the team stayed where they were to not blow their cover. 

“Natsu,” Wendy started, “is this the person who you were smelling?”

“Definitely! I just need to see his face!”

Lucy interrupted, “And how exactly are we going to do that without being seen?”

Erza answered seriously, “We’ll just have to keep following him.”

Team Natsu continued to follow the cloaked figure around Hargeon. This figure stopped at a couple of food shops and was now carrying a bundle of fish, as well as a carton of apples. Happy got one whiff of the fish and started drooling. 

“Hey Natsu, do you think he’ll give me a fish if we ask? I’m hungry.”

Charle answered, “Not now, Tomcat, we are on a mission to see who this is.”

The figure weaved their way around the crowds of people, making it a little difficult for Natsu to follow the scent. However, they were able to follow the figure to the edge of town. The figure seemed to be walking on foot, as they made no motion to go towards the train station. 

“I wonder where he’s going,” said Lucy. 

Wendy spoke up, adding, “Yeah. He doesn’t seem to be going on the train. Maybe he lives close by.”

Erza shushed them as she saw the cloaked figure turn around. The figure quickly continued on their way through the forest. Natsu made sure to not lose the scent as they kept their distance from the figure. 

“Man, this guy sure does move fast.”

All of Team Natsu responded to Gray with a short answer: “Agreed!”

There was a clearing in the woods that allowed some sunlight to be seen. The figure slowed their pace to a casual walk. Team Natsu could hear the faint humming as the figure walked. The figure eventually arrived at a house near the forest’s clearing. The figure moved to take off their cloak.

Natsu yelled, “Alright! This is great! Now who is he?!

Erza smacked Natsu on the head, saying, “Quiet, Natsu! He’ll hear us.”

Natsu rubbed his head, “Yeah, sorry.”

They watched as the figure took off their cloak, revealing a short, white-haired woman. 

“A girl?!”

“Wow Natsu,” Gray started, “I guess your nose isn’t as good as you think it is.”

“Natsu,” Wendy interrupted, “do you know her?”

Natsu thought for a moment before saying. “No. Not a clue.”

Lucy looked at Natsu in annoyance: “Then why have we been following her!”

“Everyone, quiet,” Erza whispered, “she is knocking on the door.”

The door slowly opened to reveal someone that everyone except Wendy and Charle knew. 

“Laxus?!”

\--------------

Emi knocked on the door to the house with her elbow, her hands too full to open it herself. Laxus lazily went over to the door and opened it before looking down at her full hands. 

“What did you get that you can barely carry?”

“I got some fish for dinner tonight and some apples for snacks!”

The lightning mage looked at her with a bored expression before helping Emi bring the food in the house. 

\-------------

“You mean to tell me that you smelled _Laxus_?” Lucy questioned, still in shock. 

Gray added, “Yeah and how did you smell him when we were following her?”

“I don’t know! I just did!”

“Natsu, who is she?” Wendy asked. 

“Obviously,” Charle reasoned, “this woman is close enough to Laxus for his scent to transfer to her.”

“Wow Charle,” Happy gushed, “you’re so smart.”

“We must report this to the master,” Erza stated matter-of-factly. 

Lucy looked at her before saying, “Wait, why does he need to know that we found where Laxus is? He’s expelled.”

Erza looked at Lucy and the others before stating that the master would want to know the whereabouts of his grandson in case he tried anything stupid. Upon hearing this, they all agreed. Natsu, however, was not ready to leave. 

“Well I want to see who she is first!”

Lucy smacked Natsu’s arm: “Don’t be stupid! What if they see us?”

\-------------

Emi looked out the front window of the house, eying the woods carefully. 

“Do you think they know that I could feel them following me from Hargeon?”

“Knowing them, I severely doubt it.”

“They’re from Fairy Tail, right? Your old guild?”

Laxus grunted in response, making his way over to the window just in time to see Lucy smack Natsu and yell something at him. Emi looked up at Laxus.

“Should you go say hello? They came all this way.”

Laxus began to walk away from the window, turning his back away from her form. He made his way over to the kitchen table and sat down at his usual seat. 

“Laxus? Is everything okay?”

“Yeah. I’m just tired.”

Laxus closed his eyes and crossed his arms as he sat. Emi looked at the bag of fish that she bought, and she stared at the two cats that were with the group. 

“Do the cats like fish?”

Laxus opened one eye and looked at her, saying, “You’re not actually going to go out there with them, are you?”

“Well, yes. They went through the trouble of following me here. The cats must be hungry by now. They’ve been following me for over an hour.”

“Idiot. They don’t know you.”

“I know, but I know a little about them, and they seem like nice people. The loud one seems very...determined.”

Laxus smirked at this statement, opening both his eyes and looking towards the window.

“No, he’s just another idiot.”

\----------------------

“Natsu,” Happy whined, “I’m really hungry. Can we go back to the guild now?”

Lucy rolled her eyes before commenting, “Honestly, Happy, when aren’t you hungry?”

“But right now I’m _really_ hungry. My stomach is grumbling and I have no energy left. Lucy, you need to carry me!”

“Do it yourself! And if anyone should be carrying you it should be Natsu.”

\----------------

“Are you sure you don’t want to come out and say hello?”

“Positive. I’m still recovering from your hot-sauce-filled lunch.”

Emi grumbled to herself before replying by saying that the meal actually required hot sauce this time. Laxus rolled his eyes. 

“Since when does peanut butter and jelly sandwiches require hot sauce?”

“Since this afternoon!”

Laxus looked out the window to see the group start to turn back into the forest.

“If you want to go greet them now is the time to move. They’re leaving.”

“Oh crap. I’ll be back!”

\--------------------

“Alright,” Erza started, “we must make our way back to the guild for the master’s meeting. We cannot be late.”

Natsu muttered that they should at least see who the girl was before leaving, but Erza shut him up.

“Wait!”

The group turned around to see the short white-haired girl running towards them.

“Oh crap! She totally saw us! Now what do we do?”

Happy and Natsu looked at Lucy before smiling wide and replying, “We go say hi of course!”

The group of mages made their way out of the forest and into the clearing where the woman stood. They all looked at her as she caught her breath. 

“I wanted...to...say hi to you all,” she spoke between heavy breaths. 

Erza was the one to step forward first: “How did you know we were following you? And for how long did you know?”

Emi looked at her and smiled. She extended her hand to greet Erza before saying, “Well, I could sense someone following me from before I left Hargeon, but I was proven right when I saw something blue following me. My name is Emiko by the way, but everyone calls me Emi.”

Lucy looked at the blue exceed: “Way to go, Happy! You blew our cover!”

“Oh no no! It’s fine! I didn’t mind, as long as I knew you weren’t here to harm me.”

“We are not,” Erza stated, “and we were just curious. Natsu picked up on a familiar scent and we all decided to find out who it was. We never expected it to lead to Laxus though. I am Erza.”

Erza then pointed to the respective group members while listing off their names. Emi shook hands with all of them, politely greeting them. 

“Oh! I almost forgot. I brought this over for you, Happy and Charle. I figured you must’ve been hungry after following me here for so long.”

Emi reached into the bag that she carried and pulled out a pair of fish. Happy’s eyes became stars as his mouth watered. He quickly took the fish from her hand and began eating it. 

“Thanks, Emi! You’re the best. I love you and I love fish!”

“Emi,” Lucy started cautiously, “how do you know Laxus? Why are you at his house?”

Emi looked off in thought before replying, “Oh! This house is owned by both of us! We’ve been living together for about two years now.”

Everyone collectively yelled: “WHAT?!”

Emi looked at the group with concern. She looked at them in shock. _What is so surprising about that?_

“Um, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to shock you.”

Erza was, of course, the first one to recover. She composed herself by coughing into her hand. 

She started a little awkwardly. “Well. This is a surprise. I never would’ve expected Laxus to own a house with another person.”

Emi did not really know what to say, so she looked back toward the kitchen window where she knew Laxus would be sitting. She saw him sitting in his chair, his back towards the window, arms crossed still. She knew this was awkward, but she didn’t know why, so she excused herself, saying that she needed to go make dinner. 

“Well, um, if you want, you can all join us for dinner. Do you like smoked fish?”

Both Happy and Natsu had twinkling eyes as they thought of eating fish. Just as they were about to, rather enthusiastically, agree to dinner, Erza looked at the sky to see that it was getting dark. 

Lucy noticed as well and started to panic: “Oh no. We’re totally going to be late to the meeting! Master will kill us!”

Happy and Natsu looked dejected, grumbling, “I guess that means no smoked fish.”

“That’s okay! Feel free to come by again another time and I can cook something for you all!”

“Aye sir!”

The group made their way back to the forest, trying to go as fast as possible in order to make it back to the guild in time. They knew, however, that they would definitely not make it for the beginning of the meeting.

\---------------

“They were nice.”

Laxus looked up to the woman who walked back through the door. He looked at her curiously before putting a disinterested facade up. 

“Is that so?”

Emi silently laughed at Laxus and his attempt to seem disinterested, as she knew that he wanted to know how they were. Emi made her way over to the seat opposite the lightning mage and placed her elbow on the table and leaned her head on it. She looked at him once more to see if his expression would falter, but that didn’t happen. After a minute or so, Emi got up from her seat and made her way to the fridge.

“Okay! TIme for some smoked fish!”


	4. The Guild Finding Out

After a trip on the train, Team Natsu arrived back in Magnolia. 

“Now,” Erza demanded, “we are not to tell of seeing Laxus until we are alone with the master. Agreed?”

Everyone agreed to this, thinking that it was better to not draw attention to it. 

Team Natsu walked into the guildhall in time for the second half of the meeting. There was a dark guild that was going around and kidnapping children to demand money for ransom. This meeting was a briefing on the events, as well as a plan to use going forward. Upon entering the guildhall, all of Fairy Tail looked at them in shock. Master Makarov looked at the group with a fire in his eyes. 

“What do you think you’re doing being late to this very important meeting?! I told you all to be here by seven o'clock and it is now nine!”

“Gramps, you’ll never guess what we saw! It was totally a reason to be late.”

Lucy looked at Natsu in surprise before whispering to him, reminding him of the agreement they all made moments before entering the guild. Natsu, however, seemed to not care, as his excitement was showing when he yelled the words that were not supposed to be spoken to the guild.

“We found Laxus!”

Upon hearing the name of their former leader, the Thunder God Tribe ran up to Team Natsu and started asking questions and demanding answers. Erza looked at Natsu with a look that could kill, earning a small “sorry” from the fire mage. Master Makarov, however, was having none of it. His fist grew and snatched the Thunder God Tribe away from Team Natsu before clearing his throat and looking at them seriously. 

“And where exactly did you find him? And how?”

Lucy, Wendy, Gray, and Erza spoke respectively. 

“Well,” Lucy started, “we were in Hargeon for that squid request…”

“...And Natsu picked up on a scent that he said was familiar…”

“...And we all decided to follow the person and the person led us to a house along the edge of the forest…”

“...And we found out that Laxus has been living there with a young woman.”

“Yeah!” Happy exclaimed, “He lives with his girlfriend! She gave me fish!”

All of Fairy Tail was especially taken back by Happy’s statement, letting out a _“GIRLFRIEND?!”_

Master Makarov silenced them all. He walked up to Erza and looked up at her.

“Is this true?”

“She says she’s been living with him for two years, sir.”

The master huffed and turned back to the rest of Fairy Tail, telling them that he will look into the matter, but their focus was to take down the dark guild. 

\--------------

“Do you think it needs more spice?”

Laxus looked up to see that Emi had absentmindedly picked up a bottle of hot sauce. Laxus looked at the woman carefully before taking the bottle of hot sauce away from her, telling her that it wasn’t needed for pancakes. 

“Pancakes and hot sauce? Really?”

“Oh. I didn’t even notice.”

Laxus looked over Emi’s shoulder to watch her make the pancakes, paying close attention to her hand which had drifted towards the hot sauce again. Quickly taking the bottle before she could get to it again, the lightning mage placed it on top of the fridge where she couldn’t reach it. Her hand had tried to grab the air where the bottle was, and she looked confused when she saw that she was reaching for something. Laxus pointed to the top of the fridge where the bottle was not located. 

“You did it again.”

Emi sighed before flipping the pancakes onto the platter and turning to bring it over to the table. When she turned around, however, she was met with bumping into Laxus, who was still standing behind her. 

“Hey! What are you doing? You’re supposed to be at the table.”

“Just wanted to watch. Good thing I did because hot sauce would absolutely ruin pancakes.”

\--------------------

Team Natsu was called into the master’s office after the meeting about the dark guild. After being asked what exactly they saw, Natsu shrugged. 

“I mean I don’t understand what the big deal is. So what? Laxus has a girlfriend. It just means that they live together.”

“Natsu, you idiot,” Lucy started, “Having a girlfriend is _not_ just about living together.”

“Yeah Natsu!” Happy exclaimed. “It means he _lllooooves_ her.”

Erza cleared her throat, effectively drawing attention to her. 

“What is it, Erza?” Master Makarov asked. 

“This woman...she was very sweet. However, there was something strange about her.”

Wendy looked at her in confusion, asking, “What do you mean Erza? What was strange about her?”

“Probably because,” Natsu started, “she’s putting up with Laxus for so long.”

“Knock it off, idiot. This is serious,” Gray retorted. 

“Oh yeah? Who says I’m not being serious, Ice Princess?!”

“ENOUGH!”

After the master silenced them, he asked Erza what she found strange about the young woman. Erza explained that Emi was able to sense that she was being followed from the start, which is something that not very many normal people would know how to do.

“There was one thing that threw me off about that thought. You see, I couldn’t sense any magic from her at all.”

“Wait, seriously?” Gray and Natsu exclaimed at the same time.

“Woah,” Lucy stated in shock, “I didn’t even notice!”

“I knew something was off about her,” Charle explained. 

“Wow, Charle,” Happy gushed, “You’re so smart.”

Makarov thought for a moment before looking at Erza, asking if she was sure. Erza simply nodded at the master’s question.

“Why do you think that he would be living with someone without magic?”

“Well, master,” Lucy started to explain, “love doesn’t know any boundaries. Someone can be in love with anyone. They don’t have to be the same type of person. Someone with magic can fall in love with someone without magic. In fact, it happens a lot.”

The master hummed in response, looking deep in thought. Natsu decided to speak again. 

“I mean, she did invite us back for dinner at some point. We could just go back and ask questions if you’re really interested.”

“Woah,” Gray started, “did you just have a good idea?”

“What was that?!”

“Hmm,” Makarov said, “I don’t think he would appreciate me coming there unannounced.”

“So you’re not going to join us?”

“Oh no, I am going to join you.”

\-------------------

Emi and Laxus sneezed at the same time. 

“Wow,” Emi commented, “looks like someone is talking about both of us.”

“You know that’s a myth, right?”

“Just because _you_ don’t believe in it doesn’t mean it’s not real.”

Laxus closed his eyes as his head was in her lap, only humming in response.


	5. Books and Nightmares

Laxus was watching Emi read out of the corner of his eye. She was always reading, and it brought him comfort to the otherwise hectic outside world. When she would read, she would make faces at the parts where she was excited or at things that she found interesting. She would bookmark almost every page, saying that she’s “saving it” for a day when she was bored. 

Emi loved to read, and she especially loved to read about magic. She found the very idea of magic fascinating. She would go to the local library and check out countless books on magic, whether it was research on how to do magic or the history of magic. 

Emi knew that she was not a mage, but she yearned to be one. She was somewhat jealous of Laxus. Afterall, he has very powerful magic. A dragon slayer. These wizards were especially interesting to her. She had read multiple books on dragons, and from what she could tell, dragons were very fierce and almost impossible to defeat. The very concept of a wizard being able to defeat a dragon seemed implausible to her, but there was no denying that dragon slayers existed. 

Emi looked up from her book. 

“Laxus?”

Laxus hummed, signaling that he was listening.

“Was that boy a dragon slayer? With the scarf?”

“Yeah. He’s a fire dragon slayer. He’s a first generation, so he was raised by an actual dragon unlike me.”

Emi’s eyes twinkled as they grew wide and a smile formed across her face. 

“You mean he saw an actual dragon?!”

Laxus looked at her with an amused expression before looking away and closing his eyes. 

“Laxus! Tell me more!”

Laxus kept his eyes closed and forced a smile away to keep a bored expression.

“Laxus! You can’t say something like that and not elaborate!”

Laxus crossed his arms and listened to her pleas as he enjoyed the moment. 

“Laxus!”

After a while, Emi had given up, focusing again on her book as Laxus stayed quiet. Moments later he heard a soft snoring coming from the white-haired girl. Laxus sighed and made his way over to Emi, carefully picking her up and placing her on her bed.

“Jeez, brat. You can’t keep falling asleep while reading. You’re going to ruin your books.”

Emi stirred a bit, mumbling something that Laxus couldn’t make out. 

\--------------

“Natsu! Why are you sneezing so much?”

“I don’t know, Happy, but someone is probably talking about how cool I am!”

“Yeah,” Gray started, “or how lame you are.”

“What was that?!”

\---------------------

Laxus ran upstairs to the bedroom as soon as he heard it. Emi was screaming in her sleep again. She did this a lot, and there wasn’t any explanation she could give other than a “I don’t remember.” 

Without her memory, she was not able to piece together what she saw. She would become very upset when she realized that she did not know what happened to her prior to the three most recent years. She just remembered wandering around Hargeon, and two years ago, she met Laxus after running into a group from a dark guild. 

“Hey brat, wake up.”

She made no sign to say that she heard him, so he started shaking her. Her screams turned to whimpers, and tears continued to stream down her face. Laxus went downstairs, grabbed his coat from off the sofa, and made his way back up to where she was sleeping. He carefully placed his coat on top of her and waited for her to calm down. 

Neither of them knew why, but Laxus’s coat seemed to bring her some comfort. They didn’t know if it was the weight or the warmth. All they knew is that it calmed her down in situations like this. 

Emi slowly opened her eyes, red from crying. She looked up and saw Laxus sitting on the edge of the bed beside her. They made eye contact and he gave a small smile to her. She looked down, saw the coat, and turned back to him to return the smile. 

“Thank you, Laxus.”

\---------------------

“Laxus! Look what I found!”

They were currently back at the gardens, and Emi was running back to the lightning mage to show him a flower that someone had given her. 

“This guy told me that I could have it. Isn’t it pretty?”

Laxus stared at the flower and then turned away, saying, “Yeah, sure. It’s pretty.”

Emi picked up on the signals, a smile growing on her face as she took the dragon slayer’s hand. 

“Come on! The ice cream stand won’t be open much longer!”

After getting the ice cream, Emi and Laxus discussed the upcoming job request. Laxus would work as an independent, as he was no longer part of a guild. He could pick up on jobs that he heard of in passing. He took whatever jobs seemed interesting to him and collected the rewards. 

Laxus was headed off to a small town just south of Hargeon to help guard a merchant caravan. The leader was afraid that they would be ambushed by bandits, as this was a common occurrence along the trail they were taking. Laxus suggested to them that they take an alternative route if they were so worried, but after insisting that they take this route and that they would pay him a good amount of jewel to help them safely pass, Laxus agreed to the request. 

“What time are you leaving tomorrow?”

“Probably really early, so don’t bother trying to get up to see me off. Again.”

“Hey! I just want to make sure you don’t forget something important. Like, uh, a coat?”

Laxus snorted and ruffled her hair as he smirked down at her. She flattened what she could of her now messy hairs and continued to eat her ice cream. 

“Hey, Laxus. Can I try some of your ice cream?”

Laxus looked offended at the very idea, saying, “Absolutely not. You have your own.”

“Oh come on, you big baby. I’ll give you some of mine.”


	6. A Fairy Tail Encounter

“So, like, how are we going to do this again?” Lucy asked, unsure of the whole situation. 

“Well, she said that we were welcome back any time to eat, so we just go!” Natsu replied, a little too enthusiastically. 

“Natsu, do you think she’ll have smoked fish again?” Happy asked hopefully. 

“Hey guys, I think what Lucy is trying to point out is the fact that we’re going as a group,” Gray intervened.

“So? She said we could come as a group!” Natsu defended.

Mira decided to jump into the conversation, gently saying, “Yes, Natsu, but I think what Lucy and Gray are saying is that they don’t think the girl meant, well…”

“...All of Fairy Tail?” Levy finished her statement. 

Master Makarov went in the front of the group, addressing them all as he said, “Now listen, everyone, we are going to see Laxus and find out what is going on. I want you all to be on your best behavior. We do not know exactly who she is or who she has ties to.”

“What the heck does that mean, Gramps?! Erza said she’s not a mage!” Natsu complained.

“You never know who she is related to, my boy. For all we know, she might know someone on the Magic Council!”

Everyone sweatdropped at the master’s statement, well aware of his relationship with the council due to Fairy Tail’s numerous cases of destruction. 

The members of Fairy Tail all made their way to Hargeon, taking the train, much to Natsu’s dismay. 

“Why can’t you just get over your stupid motion sickness, Salamander?” Gajeel asked. 

“I’d like to…see...you try to deal with this!”

“So, Lucy,” Levy started, “what’s this girl like?”

\-------------------

“Laxus!” 

“Didn’t I tell you not to wake up to see me off?”

“Yes, but I wanted to,” Emi started before pointing a finger at his tall form, “You never know how dangerous a job will be.”

Laxus gave her a bored look before grunting to show that he heard her. 

“And I wanted to make sure you didn’t forget something!”

“I have my coat, brat. I always have my coat.”

“No, Laxus. This!”

Emi then made her way over to the lightning mage and hugged his waist. She looked up at him during the hug and said, “You can never leave home without one of these!”

\---------------

“So like, do we just...knock on the door or something?”

“Oh come on, Lucy! Don’t worry about it! She promised we could come back!”

“Natsu, she never _promised_ anything. She said that we could come back, but don’t you think that we should’ve given them a little bit of a notice instead of just showing up?”

“She won’t mind.”

“Natsu, you met her once! Stop acting like you know her.”

“Uh...hey guys,” Cana asked, “do you even remember how to get there? We’ve been walking aimlessly around town for twenty minutes now.”

“Oh crap!” Lucy shouted, which caused all of Fairy Tail to sweatdrop. 

“Don’t worry about a thing! I can smell my way there,” Natsu said, pointing at himself. 

“Great,” Gray started, “we have to rely on the idiot’s nose again.”

“Hey, I got us there last time, didn’t I?!”

“ENOUGH.” Master Makarov shouted, immediately silencing all fighting. 

Natsu and Gray grumbled at each other before the fire dragon slayer started following the familiar scent of Laxus.   
\-------------

“He’s late. I hope nothing went wrong.”

Emi was sitting in her bedroom looking out the window as she read. Laxus said that he would be back by noon, but it was currently 5:30. The white-haired woman shook it off as a train station mishap and continued to read her book on god slayer magic. 

“Do you mean to tell me that there are people that can kill gods? Wow, and I can’t even draw a magic circle.”

Emi flipped through the pages of the book, quickly marking points that she found interesting. When she was finished with the book, she placed it inside her bookshelf and picked up a blue and gold book. This book was her most precious item, but she didn’t know why. The book in question was a simple book filled with different fairy tales and magic lore. All she knew was that she had this book three years ago, with her earliest memory. 

Emi flipped through the stories until she found one that she loved the most: the tale of King Arthur. She never grew tired of reading this tale, and it was one that she always enjoyed reading. As she was reading, she heard a knock on the front door.

“Coming!”

Thinking it was Laxus coming back from his job, Emi sprinted to the door and flung it open.

“Oh thank goodness. I was starting to worry about…”

Emi’s speech drifted off as she was met with a pink mage wearing a scarf instead of the lightning mage. 

“Oh, um, sorry about that. If I remember correctly, your name is Natsu, right? What brings you back here?”

“We’re here for dinner!”

Emi looked around for a minute and once she was sure that nobody else was in the clearing, she turned back to the dragon slayer, asking, “We?”

Just as she said that, Lucy and Gray came running to the clearing, followed by Happy flying at top speed.

Lucy looked at Natsu as she caught up to him and started yelling, “Natsu, you lost everyone along the way! You were running too fast. Happy couldn’t even keep up.”

“Aye...sir,” Happy let out between breaths. 

Emi looked at the small group and smiled, saying, “Of course! I forgot that I told you to come back for a meal. Come on in.”

As Emi started to move out of the way of the door, she caught movement from the forest. She turned towards the forest to see a large group of people making their way towards the clearing. All of them were out of breath from running. Emi looked cautiously to Natsu and pointed at the large group.

“Um, we?”

Natsu gave an energetic “uh-huh!” and started to call the group towards the house. He rushed inside the house and started going through the kitchen, to which Lucy followed and started lecturing him about going through other people’s food. 

Emi just stood in shock. There were so many wizards coming to the house, and she didn’t know how to break it to them that she only meant the wizards in the small group that she met before. She gave the group a quick scan and smiled. _Maybe this is a good thing. Laxus will have to talk to them at some point._

Emi laughed to herself at the thought of Laxus having to socialize with someone other than herself for serious matters and made her way inside where Fairy Tail had made themselves comfortable. 

“Um, I don’t have that much food here to feed you all, but I can take a trip to town to gather ingredients if you would tell me what you want.”

“I’ll take some smoked fish!” Natsu yelled.

“AYE SIR!”

Emi stared at them for a few moments before smiling to match theirs. She said that she would be happy to make some if a couple of people came with her to carry the supplies back. Of the group, Levy, Lucy, Natsu and Happy volunteered. 

Lucy looked at Levy and snickered, saying, “Natsu is probably only going so he can get first dibs on the food.”

Natsu had darted ahead of the group, running full speed through the forest and back to town. Lucy called for him to slow down but he made no change in speed. Levy and Lucy sighed heavily before turning to Emi to apologize.

“He tends to think with his stomach. I’m really sorry for him looking through your fridge and cabinets. He does it to me all the time and it’s annoying.”

“Oh no, it’s okay. I admire his enthusiasm.”

The girls nodded before walking through the forest.

“So, Lucy says your name is Emiko? I’m Levy.”

“Ah, yes. I completely forgot about introducing myself. It’s nice to meet you Levy. Oh and you can just call me Emi.”

“Lucy was right when she said that you were pretty. I love your hair.”

A slight blush appeared on Emi’s face before replying, “Thank you so much! You both are really pretty as well.”

The three laughed between themselves as they tried to catch up to Natsu and Happy, who had raced after the fire mage without them noticing. Once they cleared the forest and were back in Hargeon, Emi led the group to a local fish market. Happy couldn’t contain the grin that was stretching across his face at the sight of all the different fish, and Natsu’s mouth started watering. 

“I’ll let you and Lucy pick out the fish. Levy, will you come with me to buy some produce?”

Levy gave a quick “of course” and followed Emi through the market, leaving Lucy with trying to get Natsu and Happy to focus enough to pick out one type of fish for the meal. 

“So, Emi, where did you and Laxus meet?”

Emi seemed deep in thought for a moment before answering, “Well, I was wandering around the outskirts of the town and a small group of wizards from a dark guild approached me and demanded that I give them everything I had. I didn’t have much jewel, as I was looking for work, and that made them unhappy. They went to attack me and then out of nowhere a bolt of lightning struck right in the middle! It was super cool to see. I’ve been traveling with him since.”

“Traveling? You don’t stay at the house?”

“In the beginning, we traveled all over Fiore. Laxus said something about ‘atoning’ for what he did in the past. We did small jobs to help the townspeople and then we would move on to the next town. We stayed in all these different inns and then after a couple months we decided to stay near Hargeon.”

Levy looked a little shocked, most likely because she didn’t think “Laxus” and “atoning” necessarily belonged in the same sentence, but recovered once the pair reached the front of a local produce shop. 

“Just grab whatever we can use for sides for the fish.”

Emi and Levy strolled through the shop and ended up picking up asparagus, potatoes and some local beans. The pair met up with Lucy, Natsu and Happy and stood in shock as Natsu showed them a massive bag of fish. 

“We couldn’t pick so we got them all!”

“Aye, sir! We picked the best fish!”

Lucy looked apologetically at Emi, saying, “I am so sorry. I tried to stop them, but they had already bought it all by the time I turned around again. I’ll make sure to pay you back the money.”

Emi smiled and told her that she didn’t have to worry about returning the money and ushered them all back to the house. Emi looked up to the sky and saw that it was getting dark out. Lucy noticed her concerned look and turned towards her.

“Is something wrong? You look worried.”

“Laxus went on a job really early this morning and said he’d be back by noon, but it’s already getting dark out and he hasn’t returned. I’m just a little worried that something has happened.”

Natsu turned around to Emi and confidently said, “Don’t worry about that guy. He can definitely handle himself.”

Levy agreed, “He was an S-class wizard at Fairy Tail, so you can bet that he’ll be fine. I’m sure he’s just running late.”

Emi nodded towards the group, thanking them for the reassurance. They all arrived at the house just before it got too dark, and Emi started cooking. Everyone sat in the living room except for Natsu and Happy, who insisted on watching. 

“What are you gonna do with that?” Natsu asked.

Emi looked up from the skillet, saying that she was going to make seared asparagus and beans with the fish, as well as frying up some potatoes. The pair looked disinterested in the vegetables and instead looked at how the fish was cooking. 

“See, Natsu. You make smoked fish with smoke, not fire.”

“Happy, you’re so right. This is gonna be awesome.”

\-----------------

The meal was ready to be served, so Emi dumped the food onto platters and placed them on the table. As she set down the last platter and called Fairy Tail into the kitchen, a huge boom was heard from outside. The wizards seemed to be taken back by the sudden thunder, but Emi’s eyes lit up and she ran to the door to open it. Seeing the flash of lightning hit by the front door made a smile form on her face. 

Just as she expected, Laxus had arrived. Emi made her way back into the house with the lightning mage. 

“Sorry for coming back so late. There was trouble getting the reward and then they made me take the train back. Then I got caught up with-”

Laxus entered the house to be met with the faces of Fairy Tail. His mouth dropped.

“What the HELL is going on?”

“Laxus, fight me!”

“Laxus, they came to have a meal with us.”

Laxus looked pissed. He turned to Emi, ready to start on how Fairy Tail was the last thing he needed to be faced with right now. Emi beat him to it, however, and started while pointing an accusing finger at him. 

“Listen up, mister. It’s your fault for being back so late. They’ve been here and you weren’t here to tell them they couldn’t come in. So now you’ll be nice and welcome them into our house and eat with them.”

The wizards watched in wonder as this small woman stood up to a former S-class wizard with a known tempter like it was nothing. It looked almost natural. Laxus huffed before making his way to his seat and looked at Wendy with an evil stare when he saw that she had taken it. Wendy looked at Laxus with fear evident in her eyes before she made movement to give the chair to Laxus. However, she was stopped.

“You better not be bullying that little girl, Laxus. You can go without your seat for one night. Sit somewhere else.”

Laxus, along with the rest of Fairy Tail, looked at her in disbelief. The lightning mage huffed once more before making his way to an empty chair in the corner. 

Emi continued to serve dinner and told everyone they were free to take what they wanted. Laxus glanced to the top of the fridge and saw that the bottle of hot sauce wasn’t there. He smirked to himself and closed his eyes, waiting.

“THIS LOOKS GREAT.” Natsu said, full of eagerness.

Everyone started to eat except Laxus who hadn’t taken any food yet. Everyone started eating, and one after another started coughing and trying to catch their breath. Laxus’s smirk grew wider as he listened to the coughs and chokes of his former guildmates. 

“Oh no! Is it that bad?”

Erza was the first one to recover, asking, “Emi, what exactly did you put in this?”

“I swear I followed the directions! I don’t know what happened.”

Laxus finally spoke up: “Em, you fully well know what you did.”

The Fairy Tail wizards looked to Emi, who had a defeated look on her face.

“I’m not even going to ask how you got it from the top of the fridge without noticing, but would you like to share with everyone what you added?”

Emi mumbled something incoherent, which prompted Gray to ask her to repeat herself.

“...Hot sauce.”

Everyone looked at Emi with surprise before looking back to their food. They all pushed their food away from them, proving that the heat was too much. Natsu, however, didn’t seem phased.

As he continued to stuff his face, he said, “Oh is that what that taste is? I still think it’s great!”

Lucy eyed him before muttering a sarcastic “of course” and then looking to Emi to see that she was upset. Lucy went to say something to comfort her but Laxus beat her to it. 

“Didn’t we run out of hot sauce last night? How did you get more?”

“I...don’t know.”

Laxus then grabbed a plate of smoked fish and started eating it, much to the shock of the wizards.

“You’re lucky that fish and hot sauce actually kind of go together. It’s a lot better than pancakes with hot sauce.”

Gray and Gajeel looked at Emi, exclaiming, “Pancakes?!”


	7. Sleepover!

“What do you mean they’re staying here?”

“The last train left an hour ago and it’s too late to check into an inn.”

“They have legs. They can walk back. Magnolia isn’t too far.”

“Laxus! They’re not walking in the dark.”

“Still don’t understand how it’s _my_ problem.”

“Oh shush. It’s just one night. You can deal.”

Mira and Erza looked towards the bickering couple, making sure to not be seen as they listened to their whispers from the other room. 

“Erza, are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

“Yes, we interrogate her.”

Mira looked at Erza with a weird look on her face, responding, “Um, no. Not exactly. I was thinking more of finding out more about their relationship.”

“Yes, that is what I said.”

\--------------------

Meanwhile, Makarov had fallen asleep about ten minutes after arriving and was just waking up now, missing Laxus’s entrance and the fish fiasco. 

“Master, you’re up! We missed the train back to Magnolia, but Emi kindly offered for us to stay here for the night. Oh, and Laxus is back.”

Makarov looked to Mira, thanking her for filling him in and he made his way to the kitchen where all his children were talking amongst themselves. 

“Okay everyone. I want you all to behave and make sure Emi and Laxus know that you appreciate their kindness.”

\----------------

Emi and Laxus entered back into the kitchen. Emi looked at all the wizards before announcing that they would be splitting up the three bedrooms between them. 

“One room will be girls and the other will be boys.”

“But you said there were three bedrooms,” Natsu complained, “Where is the third one?”

Emi and Laxus looked at each other. Lucy decided to whisper to Natsu, telling him that the third bedroom was obviously their shared room.

“Well, you see,” Emi started, “the third bedroom belongs to Laxus, and he isn’t too keen on sharing, as you probably know. The girls will join me in my bedroom and the boys will be in the spare room.”

“Lucy, I thought you said they shared a bedroom,” Natsu whispered.

“I thought they did. Isn’t it weird that they don’t?”

“Oh and one more thing. I find it really unfair that you have to share a room, Master Grampa, so Laxus has agreed to let you stay in his room.”

“Master...Grampa?”

Laxus looked at Emi with a glare as solid as steel. He knew what she was doing, and he fell right into it. She was trying to get him to make amends with the guild. He should’ve seen this coming, but he let his guard down. 

\--------------

“So Emi, is it true that you’ve been living with Laxus for a couple years now?” Evergreen asked.

“Yes. We bought this house about two years ago.”

Levy questioned, “You mentioned to me that you lost your memory?”

“Yes. The first memory I have was three years ago. I somehow ended up in Hargeon. At first I didn’t even remember my name, but that eventually came back to me. I don’t know how I got to Hargeon or where I’m from.”

“Woah, really?” Lucy said in disbelief. 

“Juvia wants to know if you have gained any memories since then.”

“Not really. I came to know basic things about myself, but that’s about it. Favorite food, favorite color, favorite animal, stuff like that. But I don’t remember the important things.”

The girls of Fairy Tail continued to question Emi until they all fell asleep.

\----------------------

“So what’s the deal with Laxus and that woman?” Gajeel asked. 

Gray decided to answer, as Natsu was already snoring in the corner: “Apparently they’ve been living together for two years, but that’s all I know.”

“I really do not approve of this at all,” Freed commented. 

“You’re just jealous,” Bickslow gave back. 

“She seems like a nice person. I think that she’s sweet and caring. I mean she made all of us food, even if it wasn’t really edible,” Romeo added.

\--------------

“So, uh, this is my room?” Laxus awkwardly spoke.

The two wizards stood stiffly next to each other as they entered the room. The tension in the room was overwhelming, and both of them knew it. Neither of them were comfortable in this situation. Laxus turned to the side, thinking about what he should do.

“Damn her,” he whispered.

“It is, uh,” Makarov started, “a very nice room.”

Laxus nodded and silence took over again. Eventually, Laxus could not take it anymore, so he said that he was going to take a shower and that Makarov could stay in the room to settle down for the night. The lightning mage quickly got clean clothes and fast-walked out of the room. 

Makarov stood near the doorway for a minute before sighing.

“Maybe this was a bad idea to come here with everyone. This is obviously going nowhere.”

He walked towards the window, wanting to look out at the night sky to calm his nerves. On his way over to the window, he spotted a couple of pictures on Laxus’s dresser. The master silently walked over to the pictures with his curiosity taking over. 

On the dresser stood two pictures. The first one he looked at was one of a white-haired woman and the lightning mage. They were both wearing cloaks, but the hoods were down so their faces were uncovered. They were both smiling, and the woman was holding onto Laxus’s arm. It was obviously winter, as a snowman stood in front of the pair, bearing a lightning bolt engraving on its stomach. Makarov smiled fondly at the picture and started speaking to himself. 

“Oh my. How you’ve grown. I haven’t seen that smile since you were little.”

The Fairy Tail master then looked towards the second picture. As soon as he saw it, tears filled his eyes. It was a picture of a young Laxus and a younger version of Makarov. Laxus was holding a flag, signaling that it was taken at the Fantasia Parade. They both looked so happy in the picture. Makarov’s tears turned to sniffles. He put down the pictures and turned to walk to the window to gather himself. When he turned around, however, he saw Laxus leaning on the doorframe.

“Whatcha doing, old man?”

“How dare you make me cry!”

“Uh…”

Laxus stood in the doorframe, not really sure how to counter his grandfather’s outburst. Makarov took a deep breath and walked towards the window. As he was facing away from Laxus, he started speaking.

“I see that you have become a kinder person. You resemble yourself before you turned into what you were once before.”

Laxus huffed quietly before walking over to the window as well.

“Not really sure where you’re getting that from. You were asleep the entire time.”

“I can see it through this picture here. See? Your smiles are exactly the same.”

Laxus walked towards his dresser to see the pictures, and a small smile graced his face as he looked towards the one with the snowman. He then turned to the one of himself and Makarov and looked down in defeat. 

“You know...I’m really sorry for what happened.”

“And that right there shows me that you’ve changed.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean old man?”

“You never apologize!”

Laxus grumbled something and made his way to the bed. He motioned his grandfather to go to sleep, and Makarov complied. Soon enough, Makarov was snoring again. Laxus looked towards the pictures once more, muttering to himself.

“Change huh?”


	8. Thunder

“Okay everyone! Time for breakfast.”

“How the hell is she so energetic this early in the morning?” Gajeel complained.

“Beats me, but let’s go get this food!” Natsu yelled, just as energetic as Emi.

Makarov entered the room and settled everyone. All except for Natsu who was running towards the fridge looking for the food. Laxus then sleepily walked into the room, grabbing the fire wizard by the back of his scarf and yanking him away from the fridge.

“It’s way too early for your bullshit.”

“Oh thank god,” Gray said in relief, “it’s about time someone shut him up.”

“You wanna go, Frosty?!”

“What did you just call me?!”

Lucy shushed them and discretely pointed towards something. Everyone’s gaze shifted towards where Lucy was pointing. There stood Emi quietly making breakfast and smiling to herself. Laxus was standing over her, watching her cook from over her head. They seemed really close in proximity, as Laxus’s chest was mostly touching Emi’s back. Emi started humming and Laxus let out a yawn. Everyone stood in shock, mouths agape. Wakaba started talking. Everyone told him to not speak, but he continued anyway with a smirk on his face. 

“So you two seem pretty close, yes?”

Laxus lazily looked over towards the group, not making any movement to say that he was taken back by what he said, and let out a small “hm” as a response. Emi turned her head to Wakaba, making Laxus’s head shift from off the top of hers, and simply gave a big smile towards the group. Emi then looked at the group and said that she was making pancakes for them, and she asked what kind of pancakes they would like.

“Chocolate chip!”

“Banana!”

“Blueberry!”

“GIVE ME THAT SPICY PANCAKE!”

Everyone looked towards Natsu who had a fire in his eyes. They all sweatdropped, which caused Natsu to push with even more enthusiasm. Fire engulfed his fists as he placed one leg on the table and did a power stance. Before anyone could say anything, Natsu was on the floor after Laxus brought his fist on Natsu’s head. 

“You are absolutely _not_ bringing your fire into my house.”

Everyone eventually settled down again, and Emi had finished making the pancakes with Laxus taking away the hot sauce whenever she unknowingly reached for it. Once finished, Emi put pancakes on plates for everyone. Emi looked towards Lucy, Levy, Charle and Panther Lily and gave them their banana pancakes. Gajeel and Macao asked for chocolate chips and Gray, Erza, Wendy and Mira took their blueberry pancakes. Emi looked towards the rest of the group, asking if they were sure they wanted just plain pancakes, and all of them agreed. 

Once Emi was done handing out plates, she looked towards Laxus and placed a different plate in front of him.

“And cinnamon pancakes for Laxus!”

Emi sat down with her apple pancakes and started eating. 

“THIS SPICY PANCAKE IS AWESOME!”

Everyone started eating their pancakes and light conversation ensued. 

“They are _not_ staying longer than this afternoon.”

“Why do you care so much? You’re leaving for a job in an hour!”

“You’re going to be the death of me.”

“Good. So don’t let anything else kill you on a job before I do.”

Mira and Erza were eavesdropping again, a knowing smile on their faces. Erza was the first one to whisper between the two.

“Our interrogation starts once Laxus leaves.”

“Agreed.”

Laxus packed up whatever he would need for his job, received the traditional hug from Emi, and made his way through the forest. When Emi turned around to go back inside, she was met with the expecting stares of Fairy Tail. 

“So what the hell are we going to do now?” Gajeel asked, obviously bored. 

“Well,” Emi responded, “I was going to go to the library today, but I don’t think you all would enjoy that as much as I would. So, um, we could go to the gardens, or maybe walk through town?”

“I have a great idea. Let’s go back to the guild!” Natsu says. 

“You idiot, why would we go back to the guild when we told Emi that we would be staying with her?” Gray retorted. 

“No, idiot, we’re taking her with us!”

Emi looked at the pair in shock before trying to say that they really didn’t need to bring her along and that she was fine by herself, but Natsu grabbed her and threw her over his shoulder.

“Natsu! What are you doing? You’re going to hurt her!” Lucy pleadeed, but Natsu wasn’t listening as he ran full speed through the forest. 

Once they got to the train station, Emi quietly asked for Natsu to put her down and the fire wizard complied. Everyone eventually caught up to them and stood out of breath by the train. They all got on the train and were finally able to rest. Emi looked over at Natsu and smiled when she saw that he was obviously very uncomfortable and sick. She was already sitting next to him, having taken the window seat to watch the passing view. She gently took his shoulder and laid him down with his head in her lap. She softly ran her hand through his hair, and Natsu eventually calmed down and fell asleep. Everyone stared in shock, and Lucy was the first one to speak up.

“Woah, how did you do that? Nobody can stop his motion sickness like that except for Wendy, but she uses a spell.”

“I figured that since he’s a dragon slayer he would have motion sickness. I do this to Laxus whenever we ride the train and it works for him so I figured I would try it with Natsu.”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Gray started, “you mean to tell me that _Laxus_ has motion sickness?”

“Well, yeah. I thought all dragon slayers did.”

Gajeel decided to speak up, saying, “Hell no. That’s the Salamander’s thing. I’m a dragon slayer and I don’t get motion sickness. That’s for weaklings.”

Emi’s eyes lit up. She turned towards Gajeel, careful not to disturb Natsu. 

“You’re a dragon slayer, too? Oh my gosh this is awesome! Which generation are you? Did you see an actual dragon? What are they like? I bet they’re super cool looking. I read it once in a book that--”

Once Lucy was able to get Emi to stop asking so many questions, Gajeel reluctantly answered her questions, maintaining his bored and annoyed tone the whole way. Wendy had revealed that she was also a dragon slayer, and she was more than happy to answer Emi’s questions. 

As soon as the train arrived in Magnolia, Natsu jumped up from his spot and sat up, relieved that the train had stopped moving. He looked towards Emi’s smiling figure and blushed a little before he gave her his thanks. 

They all made their way through the town and, when they arrived at the guildhall, Emi’s eyes sparkled once again. 

“This place is huge,” she breathed. 

Makarov ushered everyone inside, and the guild immediately took their usual places. Laughter erupted from the group, which made Emi smile to herself. _So this is where Laxus was? Totally not his style._ Emi laughed at herself and walked over to the bar to get a drink. 

“Do you have any apple juice, Mira?”

“That’s an unusual request. I think we might have some though. Ah, yes. Here you go!”

Emi started to drink her juice when she noticed Mira looking at her with a smirk. Emi stared back at Mira for a minute before asking her if something was wrong.

“Oh no, I’m just taking in the sight of a woman who could settle Laxus down.”

_Settle him down?_ Emi giggled. 

“I don’t really think there’s any way to settle Laxus down.”

“Oh?”

“He can’t stay in one place for too long, and he’s always going on jobs. He prefers to travel and he becomes irritated if we stay in the house for an extended period of time. We usually go around to neighboring towns once in a while to get out.”

Erza appeared before stating,“Well you seem to have done a pretty decent job of it. We obviously never could.”

Emi looked back to Mira and Erza before looking across the guild to take in everything happening. A small frown came to her face as she looked back down to her drink.

“Laxus...I know he didn’t mean to. He can be irritable and moody, but he’s really a great person. He’s kind and cares deeply for those that he holds dear. I know that you all saw him as a harsh person and a jerk, but he has been the complete opposite since I’ve known him.”

Mira and Erza looked to each other and nodded. 

“Emi,” Erza started, “how is the dynamic between you two? If I’m correct, you aren’t a mage.”

Emi looked down in defeat. Mira, sensing her discomfort, glared at Erza before rewording her otherwise blunt question. 

“What she meant to ask was how do you manage to intimidate someone with such powerful magic? By what we saw last night, you seem to do really well!”

Emi slowly looked back up towards the pair before saying, “Laxus is always saving me from trouble. Even the first day we met, he saved me from trouble. I know that I’m not a powerful wizard like he is. Hell, I’m not a wizard at all. I just try to do the best I can to help in any way I possibly can. As for keeping him in line, I know that he would never use his magic to harm me, as he knows that I don’t have any magic of my own. I trust him to not hurt me, so I am able to speak up to him.”

Erza and Mira nodded in approval. 

“I just wish...I could remember.”

“Huh?”

Emi looked back towards her drink once more. She swirled the juice in the glass before setting it down. 

“If I could just remember something then I might not be as much of a burden. He’s spending all his time trying to get me to remember, and I can’t! I know he says he doesn’t mind, but I feel horrible dragging him through this. He should be out exploring the world and instead he’s trapped in a house with someone who can’t even remember what her own last name is.”

Just then, a loud rumble could be heard in the distance. Emi immediately sat up straight and her eyes darted towards the door. She ran out the doors and looked up to the sky.

“Wow,” Mira started, “it didn’t take Laxus long to find us.”

Emi made her way back to the bar. She spoke very seriously. 

“It’s not Laxus.”

Lucy overheard and walked over to the bar, asking, “Wait how can you tell? It was Laxus the last time it happened and you knew it right away.”

“Well, Laxus’s storm is different from a normal storm.”

“Really? I never noticed.” Lucy continued. 

“Yes and even so,” Erza started, “how exactly are you able to tell without magic?”

Emi started to look uncomfortable, and she kept glancing up through the window of the guildhall before answering: “Well, you see, I’m actually really afr--”

A huge flash could be seen making its way from the sky and not long after, an enormous bang came. Emi let out a small squeak and looked uneasy. Her eyes became wide as another loud bang was heard through the guildhall. 

“Aw man. This sucks!” Natsu screamed, “How am I supposed to fish in a storm?”

“Um,” Emi started, speaking shakily, “I’m probably just going to sit in a quiet corner for a little bit.”

“Emi, are you okay?” Levy was the next one to speak up. 

“I’m just going to wait for the storm to be over.”

Meanwhile, Panther Lily held his ears and walked towards Gajeel. The exceed was sweating. He could see that the white-haired woman was also shaking, and he wanted to go see if he could talk to her about their shared fear. 

“Gajeel, we should go eat something at the bar.”

“You go on ahead. I ain’t hungry.”

Panther Lily made his way over to the woman, jumping slightly at each boom. Once he got to the bar, he jumped on a stool and turned towards the woman.

“We did not meet properly before. I am Panther Lily. I was wondering if you would want to --”

They both jumped violently at a particularly loud boom. 

“Sorry, Panther Lily, but I’m actually on my way over to a corner.”

“A corner?” Panther Lily asked, before he realized that it was a great idea, “I shall come with you to make sure you are safe.” 

Emi and Panther Lily slowly walked to an empty corner where they both sat down. As if on cue, the loudest boom shook the hall, causing Panther Lily to jump into Emi’s arms. Once he realized what he did, he cleared his throat and went to sit back down beside her. However, Emi’s grip on the exceed did not lessen. She put her arms around Panther Lily and brought him closer, almost holding on like her life depended on it. They both were sweating and shaking, and the pressure coming from her arms made the exceed feel slightly safer, so he complied with the hug. 

Lucy started to walk over to the corner, seeing that Emi was having such a hard time. 

“Is there anything I can do to help? I hate seeing you like this.”

Emi looked up at Lucy, her vision partially blocked from Panther Lily’s ears, before telling her that there really wasn’t anything she could do to help. She said that she would just have to wait it out. Another boom shook the hall, and Panther Lily started shaking again. Emi, however, had seemed to ignore the boom. She stopped shaking slightly, which caused Lucy to sigh in relief. 

Seconds after the last boom, the door was forcibly kicked open. Everyone turned to the intruder, ready to fight if it was an enemy. They were met, however, with an extremely pissed looking lightning wizard. He scanned the hall and his gaze stopped at the corner which held Emi, Lucy and Panther Lily. Another loud boom sounded, and this one caused Emi to shake again. Laxus sighed before making his way over to the corner. He gave a frightening look to Lucy.

_“Leave.”_

Lucy immediately backed away from the corner, fearing what he would do to her if she didn’t. Everyone was looking towards Laxus, probably wondering how he found them so easily. Laxus sat down next to Emi in the corner, careful not to scare her any more than she already was. He draped his coat over her, held her head in his large hand, and brought her into his side. 

Everyone looked in awe, and Emi slowly stopped shaking. Laxus pulled out his headphones, asked Emi if she wanted to wear them, and securely placed them on her ears once she replied. Her breath slowly steadied as she held her hands over the headphones. Laxus stood up once she seemed to settle down. His pissed glare resurfaced as he looked at the Fairy Tail wizards. 

“And what in the _hell_ were you all thinking bringing her here without leaving any indication as to where you were taking her?”

Wendy looked up at Laxus and timidly said, “We just thought it would be fun to give Emi an adventure. We didn’t know what else to do, so we all came back to the guild and asked her to come.”

“Laxus.”

Everyone turned to see Emi slowly making her way over to the aggravated dragon slayer. She gently touched his arm and defended the guild. 

“They were just trying to include me. It was my fault for not leaving a note. I thought I would’ve been back in time for you to come back." 

“Put the headphones back on. You’re gonna start sweating again.”

“I’m fine. The thunder has calmed down. Plus,” Emi motioned towards the oversized fur coat, “I have this.”

Everyone looked at the little exchange between the couple and sighed when Laxus gave a small smile towards the woman. 

Happy flew over their heads and landed on Natsu’s head before whispering to Natsu and Lucy, saying, “They’re in _llloooove_.” 

Lucy made a terrified face as she looked at the lightning mage to see if he heard. Luckily he did not. She sighed in relief. 

The storm had passed and they were all laughing around again. Emi was talking with Lucy and Levy about a new book that she had found on god slayer magic. Laxus was quietly sitting at the bar with Mira as he ordered a drink. 

“You seem to have quite a soft spot for her, Laxus.”

“Shut up.”

Mira just giggled in response.

\---------------------

“Bye everyone! It was nice hanging out with you all.”

“What is she talking about? Wasn’t she crying for a chunk of the time?”

“Natsu!” Lucy scolded, “She obviously meant for the hours of time she wasn’t crying.”

Laxus and Emi slowly made their way out of the guildhall. Emi kept tripping on Laxus’s coat because it was so long, so she had to give it back to him before they left. Makarov stopped the couple at the door.

“I am very sorry for the trouble we might’ve caused.”

“Master Grampa! It was no big deal,” Emi assured.

“Master...Grampa?”

After a while of walking towards the train station, Emi stopped. Once Laxus realized that she was no longer at his side, he turned around. 

“What are you doing? We have to get back.”

“Carry me!”

Laxus looked at the woman with a bored expression before turning around and continuing to walk, leaving her behind.

“No.”

Emi ran to catch up with the lightning mage, tugging on his coat.

“Please? My head hurts.”

“Probably because of all the crying you did, brat.”

Laxus continued to walk. Emi stayed put in the middle of the road and crossed her arms. Laxus turned back and did the same thing to her. Both stared at each other, Emi’s look filled with determination and stubbornness and Laxus’s filled with annoyance and boredom. 

“Fine, but you’re walking once we get off the train.”

“Deal!”

\------------------

“Laxus?”

She just got a groan in response.

“Did you know that not all dragon slayers have motion sickness? I learned that today when I spoke with Gajeel and Wendy.”

Laxus just groaned again and placed his head in her lap. Emi giggled in response, her hands gently running through his hair.


	9. Finding George's George

Laxus came into Emi’s room with a very serious look on his face. Emi looked up from her book and looked at him questioningly. 

“He took all our food.”

All Emi could do was sigh, close her book, grab her cloak, and motion for the dragon slayer to do the same. 

“Well I guess today is shopping day. Let’s go. We still have to clean the bathrooms today.”

Laxus groaned in response, grabbed his cloak and followed the woman out the door. They wore cloaks in order to not be seen by the wizards that travel though Hargeon. If wizards were to catch a glimpse at Laxus, they would most likely either challenge him or run away and draw attention to him. Within his three years of exile, Laxus has learned that he liked to lay low, and fighting would just blow his cover. He looked over at Emi, who was looking at the produce section of a local farmers market. 

Suddenly, a small boy ran into Laxus, causing the boy to fall to the ground. Laxus looked down at the boy before helping him back up.

“Sorry, mister, I wasn’t looking where I was going.”

“It’s fine, kid. Where are you off to in such a hurry?”

“I’m looking for my dog, George. He ran away this morning and I haven’t been able to find him yet.”

Laxus sighed, walked over to Emi, told her that he needed to go do something, and returned to the boy, saying that he would help him look. Emi continued to look at the produce, gently squeezing the fruits to see if they were ripe. 

“Back for more apples, miss?”

“Yes. These apples are always delicious. You have the best apples in town!”

She bought apples, carrots, cucumbers and tomatoes. She then made her way over to the bread stand and picked up a couple loaves. Emi turned back to find Laxus and became confused when he wasn’t there. She thought that he would have surely been back by now. Not paying any attention to the missing mage, Emi decided to head back to the house to drop off what she had bought before coming back to the market to get the meat. 

\-------------

“What does this dog even look like?”

“He’s brown and has white spots on his ears and paws.”

Laxus looked at the boy with a bored expression. _Kind of a weird looking dog._

“Please, mister, you have to find him!”

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll look, kid.”

Laxus started searching in alleyways and behind buildings to see if he could find the dog, George. When he came up empty, he started looking near the food stands to see if he was trying to steal something from the carts. He still saw nothing. He looked towards the produce section and saw that Emi wasn’t there anymore. He mumbled.

“Great. She’s gonna kill me.”

\------------------

Once she dropped off the food to the house, the white-haried woman made her way back to the market. Halfway through the woods, however, she noticed something following her. She took off her hood on the cloak so she could see around her better, but she couldn’t sense any danger. She continued along the path when suddenly a small dog stood in her way. 

Emi bent down to the dog’s level, patting it on the head and smiling.

“Well hello little dog. What brings you out to the forest?”

The dog simply barked and started running towards the market. Emi smiled, following the dog while humming to herself. Once the pair arrived back at the market, Emi decided that she should start looking for Laxus. As she weaved her way through the crowds of people, she noticed that the dog was following her. Emi looked back at the dog and then walked over to the produce stand and bought two apples. Emi handed one of the apples over to the dog.

“Here you go. You look a little hungry.”

While walking away from the dog once more, Emi started biting into her own apple. Emi and the dog casually walked through the market. Emi made her way over to the meat stands when she heard a little boy running towards her. 

“Mister! Mister!”

Emi turned her head to the boy, wondering who he was talking to. He ran right up to her. 

“Mister! You found my dog! Thank you so much.”

Emi slowly removed her hood, causing a gasp from the boy. 

“Oh no. I’m so sorry. You’re not the man I spoke to before.”

“Was he also wearing a cloak? And much taller?”

The boy looked down in embarrassment before letting out a quick “yes.” Emi silently laughed at the mix up before asking the boy where the other cloaked figure went. 

“Well he said that he would help me look for my dog, and he moved outside the market. I don’t know where he is now.”

“What’s your name?”

“My name is George!”

“Well, George, it was nice meeting you and I hope that you and your dog stay together for a long time. It’s always nice to have a friend.”

“Is that guy in the other cloak your friend?”

Emi smiled softly before answering, “Yeah. Something like that.”

\---------------------

“Where in the goddamn hell is this thing?”

Laxus was starting to get annoyed with the situation. He was supposed to be helping Emi shop and yet he couldn’t find her or the dog anywhere. He finally spotted a tail wagging. _Brown tail, brown dog._ He slowly moved closer, so as to not scare the dog. When he saw the white spots on the paws he sighed in relief. _Finally. One missing thing down._

The lightning mage slowly made his way over to the dog and, just as he was going to grab it, the little boy came out to meet him. 

“Hi mister! Your friend found my dog!”

Laxus’s eyes twitched.

“And you didn’t think to tell me before I spent the last hour looking for a dog that was already found?”

The boy and dog walked away, leaving an annoyed Laxus behind. 

“Great, Now I have to find the other one.”

“Laxus!”

Laxus turned to see the woman he was looking for. She was holding a few bags in her hands. 

Emi let out a sigh, saying, “I was looking for you everywhere. Where did you go?”

“I was helping a brat find his dog.”

“Oh. That was really nice of you! I already took most of the groceries back to the house, but you can carry these ones for me,” Emi said as she handed over the bags of meat and fish. 

\--------------------

“Whew. That was quite a walk back.”

“You weren’t even carrying anything, brat.”

“Hey I carried all the bread and produce back by myself, so it’s only fair that you carry the meat and fish.”

“Meat and fish are a lot heavier than bread and produce.”

“And you’re a lot stronger than me, so it’s even.”

Laxus quietly grumbled as he set the bags down on the counter. He slowly handed each item to the white-haired woman as she put them away. 

“That boy you were helping, was his name George?”

“No, his dog’s name was George.”

“A brown dog with white spots?”

Laxus eyed her suspiciously before nodding slowly in agreement.

“The dog belonged to a little boy named George.”

“A kid named George calls his dog George? Really?”

“I think it’s kind of cute. It means they’re close.”

Laxus turned away from the kitchen and made his way to his room.

“Whatever. It sounds stupid to me.”


	10. Natsu Returns

A loud knock was heard on the front door. Laxus and Emi looked at each other before Laxus volunteered to answer the door. No one ever visits their house, as it is behind a rather dense section of the woods surrounding Hargeon, so they were both weary of who was knocking. 

“What the _hell_ are you doing here?”

Emi looked up and slowly stepped towards the door. In the doorway was a smiling Natsu.

“I came for a meal!”

Emi shook her head, laughing at Natsu’s energy, and went fully to the door where she greeted him. Laxus showed a look of pure irritation.

“Who the hell said you could come back? You were asked once, brought the entire guild, and stole all our food when you left.”

“But I brought some food this time! I was hoping I could eat something with hot sauce!”

Laxus rolled his eyes, stepped back into the house, and started to close the door on Natsu. Emi stuck her foot in the door, successfully stopping the door from closing. She looked up at the taller wizard and gave him a stern look before pushing him out of the way and opening the door fully for Natsu to come in.

“Come on in, Natsu. You’re always welcomed here. What exactly did you bring?”

Natsu rushed into the house so that Laxus couldn’t close the door on him again and sprinted over to Emi, who had made her way into the kitchen. He crashed into her because of the momentum, knocking them both to the floor. Natsu rubbed his head and Emi winced at the impact. 

“Uh, Natsu?”

Natsu let out a quiet “ow” before looking down to the woman with white hair. Once he realized what happened, he got up and held out his hand for Emi to take. A small blush was seen on his face, embarrassed that he knocked her down. Laxus came into the room to see Natsu helping Emi up.

“What did you do this time, dumbass?”

“What did you say?!”

Natsu once again crashed to the ground as he was hit by Laxus as he said, “I called you a dumbass, dumbass.”

“Laxus! Don’t hurt him anymore than he already is. Don’t you see that he’s bleeding?”

Emi rushed over to Natsu, sitting him up and looking him over. She saw that his side was bleeding, but she knew it wasn’t because of his fall. 

“Natsu, how did you get hurt?”

“I was taking a job to help these people get through the forest and I was ambushed by a group of wizards from a dark guild. One came at me with some sort of sword.”

“A dark guild? In the forest? Laxus, did you know about this?” Emi asked.

Laxus looked towards the pair and shrugged his shoulders before saying that he hadn’t heard anything about it, and that he would’ve taken care of them if he had known.

“Plus, I figured that I could just stop by and eat! That always makes me feel better!”

“Natsu, you’re seriously hurt!”

“Yeah, idiot. You should be thinking about your side instead of your stomach.”

Emi looked at Natsu’s side, concern evident in her eyes. Suddenly, Emi grabbed Natsu’s overcoat and flung it aside with one swift move.

“Hey!” 

Emi went closer to the fire mage, sitting down next to him and looking at his side more closely. She noticed a deep gash in his side and saw that the wound did not look like the bleeding was stopping.

“Follow me into the bathroom. I can try to help.”

Emi helped Natsu up and guided him into the bathroom. She asked him to sit on the toilet while she looked through the cabinets. She found some bandages and rubbing alcohol and quickly took them out. Natsu looked at her as she helped to disinfect his wound.

“You’re really good at this. I can’t even feel anything.”

“How did you make it all the way here with your wound? I would’ve passed out before I could even get close.”

“Oh this is nothing!”

Natsu punched the air to show that he wasn’t affected, but let out a hiss when he moved, showing that he was in pain. Emi slowly lowered his arm so that it wouldn’t aggravate the wound and placed it in his lap. Natsu’s eyes were closed in pain. Emi gently put a hand on Natsu’s arm as she tried to comfort him. They could hear Laxus yelling from the other room.

“Hey Natsu, what happened to Happy?”

Natsu called back, “He didn’t come. He said he wanted to spend time with Charle, whatever that means.”

Emi giggled, telling Natsu that it was because Happy liked the white exceed. Natsu turned his head towards Emi.

“So that means that you two like each other, right? I mean you live together, how much more time can you spend with someone.”

Emi’s face became hot. She stuttered for a bit before looking back at Natsu’s smiling face. She nodded and smiled at the fire mage. The small woman finished wrapping Natsu’s side with some bandages and led him back out to the kitchen where Laxus was looking through the fridge. 

“We’re all done,” Emi said happily, “so now we can cook whatever Natsu brought.”

Laxus sighed and pulled out the fish Natsu was carrying when he arrived. He handed it over to Emi, who started preparing grilled fish, as per the request of the fire dragon slayer. Natsu happily sat down at the table, and Laxus went into the living room to get away from the loud mage. Once Natsu started smelling the fish, he jumped out of his chair and ran over to where Emi was cooking. His childish ways were shining through, as he kept peeking over Emi’s head to see how she was cooking them. He noticed her reach for something on the counter, and turned to see it was a bottle of hot sauce. Natsu laughed and put his fist up in excitement. 

“Hell yeah! Spicy grilled fish! Happy is going to be so upset that he missed this.”

Emi looked down at her hand to see that she was holding the hot sauce and let out a surprised squeak. 

“Em, do _not_ put the hot sauce in the pan,” Laxus warned from the other room.

“No, Emi, _please_ put the hot sauce in the pan. It’ll taste so good!”

_“Em, do not.”_

“Please, Emi? I love your spicy meals!”

“Laxus, why don’t I do it for this meal? You’re leaving on a job, so you won’t be here for the meal. Besides, Natsu’s excited for his fish!”

Emi and Natsu heard a loud huff from the living room before Laxus emerged to the kitchen holding a small bag. He tossed a disinterested glance over to the pair and grabbed an apple from the fridge before leaving.

“Hey! Those are my apples!”

Laxus scoffed and waved his goodbye as he made his way to the forest. Emi ran after him before he got too far and looked at him expectantly. Laxus looked down at the short woman with a curious look. Emi smiled at the lightning mage and opened her arms in an over dramatic way, as to signal that he didn’t hug her before he left. Laxus leaned down and gave her a small hug before continuing towards the forest.

\---------------------

“I wonder what’s taking Natsu so long. He said it was a quick job.”

“Lucy,” Erza spoke, “Natsu is capable of handling himself. I am sure that he is caught on the train.”

“Yeah,” Gray continued, “That idiot probably got stuck on the train and had to take it twice again.”

“Aye sir!”

\--------------------

“Natsu, are you sure you’re feeling better?”

“Definitely. That fish completely healed me.”

Emi looked at him before moving a finger towards his injured side. Natsu instinctively shifted his body away from her, which earned a small smirk from the woman. 

“Did you want to stay the night here until you can get back on your own? You can stay in the spare room.”

“I promised Happy I’d be back by tonight so that way we could go fishing early tomorrow morning.”

“Okay then. Let’s go!”

Natsu looked to his side to see Emi tugging on his vest. He looked at her, wearing a confused stare. She looked back at him and smiled before explaining that she could take him back to the guild so that way she knew he made it back safely. Natsu’s smile grew wide as he jumped up from his seat.

“Everyone will be so excited that I brought you back again! I know Lucy really misses you.”

Emi blushed at the concept of others missing her before looking back at Natsu. He had already made his way out to the clearing, so she had to run to catch up to him. 

“Natsu, you’re still hurt. You shouldn’t be moving so fast.”

\------------------

“Well hello Master. Are you finished your paperwork already?”

A drunk Makarov stepped onto the bar: “Mira, you know to never question my paperwork!”

Mira simply giggled in response before she saw the concerned look on his face.

“Master, are you feeling alright? You look worried.”

Makarov looked upwards before sighing and turning back to Mira. He started to explain how he had been worried about his grandson and the woman he lived with. He shared that he thought that there might be danger in having a non-wizard being involved with a strong wizard like Laxus.

“What do you mean, Master?”

“Being a strong wizard makes a dark guild more apt to attacking you. And with that girl not being a wizard, she can’t defend herself if Laxus isn’t around. It just makes me uneasy knowing that that girl might be in danger.”

\-------------------

Natsu and Emi boarded the train, taking their seats near the back. Before the train started moving, Natsu looked at Emi and felt heat begin to come onto his cheeks. Emi noticed Natsu’s stare and turned to him and asked what was wrong.

“Well, um, I was wondering if you could do that thing again that made me not feel sick.”

Emi smiled and gave Natsu and “of course!” before moving from her seat across from him to right beside him. Just like last time, she motioned for Natsu to lay his head on her lap. After he had done so, she put her hands on his head and started pushing her fingers through his hair. 

\-------------------------

“Okay, Natsu has been gone for way too long now. Where could he possibly be that would be taking him so long?”

Not even thirty seconds later, someone had kicked the door open to the guildhall. Everyone looked towards the door to see a bandaged Natsu. 

“You’ll never guess who I found!”

Just then Emi ran up to Natsu.

“Nastu, you’re still injured. Please don’t move so quickly.”

Everyone looked at Emi, and Gray was the first one to speak up.

“So that’s where you’ve been? You were _visiting_? Everyone was worrying.”

“Yeah but she cooked some fish for me and bandaged me up, see.”

Natsu then motioned towards his bandages, leading everyone to ask him what happened. He explained about how he was in the forest for the request when he had the idea of going to Laxus and Emi’s house when he was attacked by a group from a dark guild on the way. 

Makarov cleared his throat, drawing the attention to him.

“Master Grampa! It’s so nice to see you and everyone else again.”

“Master...Grampa?”

“Natsu,” the master started after recovering, “do you know which guild they belonged to?”

“Uh, something with a snake. ‘Snake Fang’ or something like that.”

Emi was quickly dragged by Natsu to Team Natsu’s table where Emi and Lucy started to talk about the newest developments in fashion magic.

\-----------

Laxus had returned home, but was met with a quiet house. He looked around each room and came to the conclusion that the house was empty.

“Great. Now where did she go?”

He walked into the kitchen to see a note on the fridge.

_‘Went to Fairy Tail with Natsu. I’ll be back soon! - Emi’_

Laxus groaned before looking through the fridge for something to eat.

\-----------------------

“Emi, do you have to go?” Natsu and Lucy asked.

“I’m sorry everyone, but Laxus will be pissed if I don’t come home.”

“That jerk! He needs to learn to share,” Natsu complained. 

“You know,” Macao retorted, “you can’t keep a pair like that separated for too long. Who knows, Laxus might be on his way over right now to pick a fight with you for kidnapping her again.”

“Let us at least walk you to the train station. It’s dangerous walking in the dark,” Erza suggested.

\---------------------------

Emi arrived in Hargeon and got off the train. As she had begun walking in the way of the forest, she spotted a familiar cloaked figure. 

“Laxus!”

“Do you know how dangerous it is walking through a forest alone at night? What were you thinking?”

“It’s alright, Laxus. I knew that if I got into any trouble, you would come save me like you promised.”

A small blush made its way onto Laxus’s face before he shook it off and continued to lecture her through the forest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I forgot to say this at the beginning of the book, but the Tenrou Island arc kind of messed up the whole plot, so I decided to not include it. Thanks for reading!


	11. Snake Fang

“Should we get orange flowers or purple flowers?”

“Why are we getting flowers at all?” Laxus asked with slight annoyance.

The pair strolled through the flower shop, Emi looking at all the flowers with stars in her eyes. Laxus reluctantly followed her through the shop, making sure she didn’t run off. She kept picking up different flowers and asked his opinion on them, and he would just shrug every time. Laxus started to look at the different orange and purple flowers, eager to finish this errand so he could take a nap. The dragon slayer would pick up a random purple flower and ask Emi’s opinion. 

“You’re not good at this at all, Laxus.”

“Who said I ever wanted to be?”

Emi laughed before turning back to an orange flower. Laxus turned to look away from the flowers when his eyes spotted a group of orange and purple flowers a few stands over. He wandered away without warning and picked up the colorful flower. 

“Laxus,” Emi said after finding him, “why did you run off? You always yell at me for doing that!”

Laxus looked back towards the purple and orange flower before picking it up and turning around to face Emi. He looked at her and asked if she would approve of this flower. In response, Emi’s smile grew wide. 

“Birds of Paradise! Of course! How didn’t I think of that?”

Emi excitedly took the flower from Laxus, returned to the stand and bought multiple before turning back to Laxus and saying that they could now return home. Laxus breathed out a sigh of relief, thinking that he could finally take his nap. 

As the two were walking back, Emi would ramble on about the new flowers, saying that Laxus was a natural at picking out good flowers. Laxus just looked at her unimpressed. _Didn’t she say I wasn’t good at it earlier?_

“We’re home!” 

“Emi, who the hell are you greeting?”

A voice sounded from the living room, “Welcome back! I was waiting for you guys for hours!” 

Laxus immediately pushed Emi behind him, told her to stay by the door in case, and slowly made his way to the living room to see who had broken in. He spotted a small group of men sitting in the living room, all carrying weapons. He snuck back over to the front door and told Emi to hide in the forest until he gave the all clear. Emi nervously and silently ran into the forest. Laxus walked back into the house, made his way over to the doorframe of the living room and cracked his knuckles. 

“Who the hell do you think you are breaking into my house?”

The leader, presumably, spoke up, saying, “We are Snake Fang, the mightiest dark guild in all of Fiore! We are here to eliminate you, Laxus Dreyar.”

“That was a rhetorical question, but that doesn’t really matter. I’ll kick your ass no matter who you are.”

From the forest, Emi could see a huge storm rolling in. She didn’t feel afraid, signaling to her that it was Laxus who called the storm. Emi hid behind a short tree and peaked from around the trunk. She saw multiple flashes of light coming from the living room window. Suddenly, everything was quiet. 

Emi’s head began to ache, and suddenly there was a sharp pain shooting through her temples. She crashed to the ground on her knees and held her head. She kept looking at the light that was in the house, and it caused her to feel nauseous when combined with the pain. 

Laxus had finished tying up the remainder of the group from Snake Fang and tossed them out of the house. He was on his way to town to turn them in. The mage quickly found Emi and went to tell her that the house was now safe. However, Laxus found that the woman was folded over in pain. Laxus immediately rushed to her side and asked what happened. She looked up to Laxus with pain-filled eyes. 

“I remembered something.”

Laxus unconsciously dropped the intruder to the ground and looked shocked. 

“Are you sure? What was it?”

“There was some yelling and then a bright light that went up to the sky. And then I saw something red fly towards me, but that’s all I can remember.”

\-----------------------

After turning in Snake Fang, Laxus and Emi headed towards the flower gardens. Emi was visibly upset after her small memory and Laxus knew that the garden would cheer her up. He had convinced her to get the ice cream before they entered the gardens, however, because he was not going to stand there for hours without something to do. He had told Emi that they could stay as long as she wanted. Three hours later, Laxus came to regret this decision, as the woman was still bouncing between flower patches with unmatched energy. 

“Laxus! This one is my favorite one!” Emi exclaimed as she pointed to a patch of Calla Lilies. 

“You’ve been saying that to every flower for the past three hours,” Laxus mumbled. 

Emi turned back to the lilies, looking at them once more before skipping towards a patch of daisies. She bent down on her knees in order to get a better look at the flowers when she suddenly felt a tap on her shoulder. Thinking it was Laxus, she turned her head with a smile on her face. She was met, however, with an unknown man. 

“Oh, um, hello.”

The man simply smiled before extending his hand to hers to help her stand up. Emi got a closer look at him. He had green eyes and brown hair, and he stood a few inches taller than her. Once she was standing up and facing him, the man looked at her before pulling out a purple orchid. He slowly put it in her hair.

“A beautiful flower for a beautiful woman.”

Emi simply smiled at the man, earning one in return. They had begun to talk while looking at the different flowers. They made small conversation before returning to the fountain at the center of the gardens, where Laxus was impatiently waiting for the woman who had run off again without telling him. He saw her walking towards the fountain with a smile on her face.

“There you are. Where the hell did you run off to this ti--”

He stopped when he saw the man standing behind her.

“Laxus, look! Isn’t this flower pretty? Ian gave it to me,” Emi said, gesturing to the man that Laxus didn’t know. 

“Is that so? Very nice of you, Ian,” Laxus let out through gritted teeth. 

“Yes, I believed that a woman as gorgeous as Emi should be in possession of something that can match her beauty. Though that is nearly impossible.”

Emi blushed before sitting next to Laxus on the fountain’s edge and swinging her legs because she couldn’t reach the ground. Ian had said his goodbye after kissing Emi’s hand. 

“That guy was really nice, don’t you think?”

“Sure. Nice.”

“Is something wrong, Laxus?”

Laxus scoffed before turning towards the woman. He grabbed both her shoulders and looked her in the eye.

“You’re an idiot.”

Emi tilted her head in response, clearly confused. 

“Don’t turn around right away, but I want you to look at the back of Ian’s neck.”

Emi nodded and stood up to make it look like she was stretching. Casually taking a glance at the spot that Laxus had told her to, she noticed a guild symbol. Emi had turned back to Laxus and sat back down. 

“Okay. He’s part of a guild. So what?”

“That crest is of Snake Fang, idiot. It’s the same crest that those guys who broke in wore.”

Emi’s face flushed red and she hung her head low. Really?

“Am I that hopeless? I can sense when someone follows me through the woods, but I can’t even sense when someone from a dark guild is standing right in front of me.”

“Let’s head back before something happens. I swear, you’re almost as dense as Natsu at times.”

\---------------------

Natsu’s sneeze echoed through the guild hall. 

“Geez, Salamander. You sure have a lot of people talking crap about you.”

“Shut up, Bolt. Hey Gramps! When can we go see Emi and Laxus again? I’m hungry.”

“Can’t you go a day without complaining,” Gray said from the bar. 

“What did you say?!”

“Children, please,” Master Makarov started, “I’m sure that Laxus would not appreciate all of us showing up uninvited again.”

“She told me I could come back anytime I wanted!” Natsu protested. 

“Yeah,” Lucy interrupted, “she invited _you_ , not Fairy Tail.”

Suddenly, Evergreen, Bickslow and Freed burst into the hall out of breath. 

“Master, we’ve just gotten word that Snake Fang had attacked ‘a house in the woods’ earlier today,” Freed stated, emphasizing the description of the place of attack with air quotes. 

“Oh no,” Wendy replied, “that sounds like Emi’s house.”

“I guess we’re taking a trip then, right Gramps?” Natsu asked almost enthusiastically.

“Yes, I guess it can’t be helped,” Makarov replied, also a little too enthusiastic. 

\-----------------------------

“Prepare yourself.”

“Huh?” 

Emi and Laxus had arrived back home about an hour ago. Emi was reading on the couch in the living room with Laxus laying his head in her lap. They had finally been able to sit down after a long day. Laxus, however, was not able to take his nap, leaving him grumpy like a toddler. He settled for this, as it was still relaxing.

“They’re coming.”

“Who is?”

“Fairy Tail.”

Emi looked away from her book and down at Laxus.

“How on earth can you tell?”

“Unfortunately, I can smell them.”

About ten minutes later, a loud knock was heard at the door. Emi went up to answer it, but Laxus refused to move from his position on her lap. Emi pleaded to him to let her up, but he stayed put and smirked with his eyes closed. Just then, they were both startled when they heard a loud tap on the window to the living room. Laxus jumped up from Emi’s lap and walked over to the window, his once calm aura being replaced with one of pure irritation. Laxus quickly opened the window, making sure to give Natsu’s head a smack as it opened. 

“Hey!”

“What the hell do you all want?” Laxus growled.

Makarov moved from in front of the door to the open window and said, “We heard the reports of a dark guild attacking a house matching your description, so we came to make sure Emi was safe.”

 _Just Emi? Figures._ Laxus scoffed at his grandfather’s statement.

“You think I can’t handle a small group from a dark guild? I’ve been taking down entire dark guilds throughout the past couple years. I can handle five or six of them.”

“Yes, well we just wanted to make sur--” Makarove stopped speaking in shock when he finally processed what Laxus had said.

“DARK GUILDS? THIS WHOLE TIME THE MAGE DESTROYING DARK GUILDS WAS YOU?” 

“Uh yeah, that’s what I said, old man.”

“LAXUS.”

Laxus looked completely bored with the conversation and started to shut the window to go back to relaxing. He ignored his grandfather’s scolding and yelling and shut the blinds once the window was completely closed. 

“They’re as energetic as ever,” Emi said through her laughter.

“Yeah, tell me about it.”

“LAXUS YOU BETTER BE LISTENING TO ME. HOW DARE YOU DO THAT WITHOUT TELLING ANYONE.”

“Why the hell is he so loud?”

“Because,” Emi answered, “taking down dark guilds in an extremely dangerous task. He’s just worried about you.”

“Can’t believe he actually didn’t realize. I mean look at the headlines,” Laxus said while picking up a random newspaper, “It even says ‘dark guild Lion Claw destroyed overnight as a suspicious storm rolled through’ right on the front page.”

“LAXUS.”

Emi couldn’t contain her laughter anymore. She put down her book on the table by the couch and made a move for the door.

“What do you think you’re doing? You can’t actually want them to come in, do you?”

“Of course I do! They’re a lot of fun and very entertaining to watch.”

Laxus grumbled and took his usual seat in the living room as Emi went to answer the door. As soon as she opened the door, a group of wizards came crashing into the doorway. Cana, Mira, Levy, Lucy and Erza all held their heads as they picked themselves off the floor. Emi realized that they were probably eavesdropping on the brief conversation she had had with Laxus. 

Makarov was the next one to approach the door and gave a quick “excuse me” to Emi before storming into the living room to Laxus.

“Now you listen here, young man. You mustn’t continue with this! You’re putting yourself and Emi in danger of these dark guilds!”

Laxus opened his eyes and sighed, knowing that he wouldn’t be able to escape his grandfather’s lecture. 

“Relax old man. That’s why we have a house at this location. People would have to come through the dense woods in order to get here. It’s safe, so stop your worrying.”

“Yeah but weren’t you attacked this morning?” Macao asked.

“It was easily taken care of. They didn’t even last through one hit.”

“That’s not the point! WHAT IF EMI WAS IN THE HOUSE ALONE AND YOU WEREN’T HERE TO PROTECT HER? ARE YOU LISTENING?”

Laxus let out a low growl before replying with, “I’ll always be here to protect her.”

“It’s true, Master Grampa--”

“Please child, stop calling me that.”

“--Laxus made a promise to me that he would protect me until I don’t need it anymore.”

Everyone turned towards Laxus and saw that he had a deep red tint to his cheeks. He quickly shook it off and he wore a bored expression on his face once again. 

“So will you all just leave us alone?” Laxus asked, clearly annoyed. 

Emi laughed and turned towards the group while saying, “I’m sorry. Poor little Laxus didn’t have his nap today, so he’s a bit cranky.”

“I am not!”

Everyone eventually left excluding Makarov and Natsu, one aiming to get some answers about his grandson’s whereabouts for the last three years and the other aiming to get some food. 

“Emi, I’m hungry.”

“Natsu,” Makarov said as he turned to the dragon slayer, “we are here to get information, so please save your stomach for later.”

Natsu grumbled and he stomped his way into the living room. 

“Laxus, fight me!”

“Didn’t I hear the old man say he wanted you to get information, not get yourself beat up?”

As if hearing this, Makarov re-entered the living room, glaring at both mages. He went to speak when he was interrupted by Emi who came in with some tea and a batch of leftover cookies. After putting them down on the table, Emi looked awkwardly between the three and went to leave the room. She successfully made her way to her bedroom when she realized that she had forgotten her book. _Oh well. I definitely can’t get between that._

Laxus looked at the two full of disinterest. Makarov was quietly sipping his tea and reached for a cookie.

“Hey old man, how brave are you?” Laxus suddenly asked.

Makarov looked confused at the sudden question before answering that he could brave almost anything if it was for family, not getting what he was getting at. Laxus smirked and headed out to the kitchen. Laxus heard a cough from the room he had just left, signaling that his grandfather had eaten the cookie. The lightning mage returned to the living room with a glass of water and handed it to the guild master. 

Upon hearing the coughing, Emi let out a quick “sorry!” from the upstairs.

“My, she puts hot sauce in everything. Laxus, why does she---”

“I’ve been trying to figure that out for two years, old man.”

“Oh hell yes. Spicy cookies!”

Laxus and Makarov looked at Natsu with a look that can be described as wonder and annoyance. Natsu continued to shove cookies into his mouth as he sat next to the master. The pair looked at each other before Makarov sighed. Laxus raised an eyebrow at the calm aura that had replaced his grandfather’s previous irritation. 

“All I ask is that you be careful and to protect that girl with your life.”

“Don’t worry old man. I’ve already done that.”

“YOU WHAT? ARE YOU TELLING ME THAT YOU’VE ALREADY ALMOST DIED? I’LL KILL YOU.”


	12. Gildarts Enters

Everyone in Fairy Tail was buzzing with excitement. The news spread quickly that Gildarts was returning from his quest. Natsu couldn’t contain his eagerness to fight that he started to pick a fight with Gray. This, naturally, led to a full out brawl in the guildhall. Everyone was silenced by the sound of footsteps coming towards the guild. The guild doors opened, revealing Gildarts standing with his bag slung over his shoulder. Natsu immediately asked him to fight and Natsu just as quickly ended up in the ceiling across the guild. 

After prying his friend from the ceiling, Happy flew Natsu back down to Gildarts.

“You’ll never guess what happened!”

Gildarts looked to him before saying, “Look kid, it’s been a long day and I really think I just need to re--”

“We found Laxus!”

“Oh really? Where has he been hiding for these three years?” Gildarts asked as he ordered his usual drink at the bar.

“And he has a girlfriend!”

Upon hearing this, the S-class wizard spit out his drink. He looked at Makarov to confirm, which earned him a simple nod from the master. 

“Well, well. Never thought that would happen. Say, have you actually seen this girl?”

Lucy spoke up, “We’ve met her a couple times now.”

Levy continued, “Yeah she’s super nice and pretty.”

“She’s the best cook ever!”

“Aye sir!”

Gildarts continue to listen to his guildmates and their stories about the woman before getting up and clapping his hands together.

“Alright,” Gildarts said, drawing attention to himself, “I’m heading over to see this woman. I’m very intrigued to see a non-mage interact with the man who called his fellow wizards weak.”

“Gildarts,” Makarove started, “Laxus has gone through a lot of changes since leaving Fairy Tail. I was even surprised.”

“I’ll keep that in mind when I start annoying him.”

“Take me with you! I want to see Emi!”

“You just want her food,” Lucy scolded. 

“Sorry everyone, but I’ll be heading over there alone.”

\---------------------

Emi looked out her window, watching the birds that had landed on top of a tree near the clearing. She was taking a break from the reading that she had done for three hours when she heard a knock on the door. Emi, expecting that it was either Laxus or Fairy Tail again, quickly made her way down to the front door. When she opened the door, a familiar face appeared. Emi immediately became nervous.

“Um, hi Ian. What brings you out here?”

“Well I was lost in the woods when I picked up on this amazing aroma. I followed it right to your door. And it seems that it was you all along. A beautiful scent from a beautiful woman.”

Emi couldn’t help but blush at the compliment. However, she was suspicious as to why Ian would be at her door, especially knowing that he was from a dark guild.

“Say, is that man you were with at the gardens here? Laxus Dreyar, was it?”

“Oh, um, no. He went out for a little bit. He should be back by tonight though...if you want to come back.”

“Now I wouldn’t want to waste a trip! So I’ll just take you with me and wait for him to come to me.”

Ian quickly threw Emi over his shoulder and started running into the woods. Emi started to scream, but her mouth was covered by Ian’s gloved hand. Suddenly, the ground started to shake. Trees were being destroyed and cut into pieces. Emi heard a soft chuckle from an unknown person. 

Gildarts had appeared in front of Ian, confidently starting to say before faltering, “So, I see that some little garden snake decided to try to bite the...bigger snake?” 

“Sir, that doesn’t make any sense,” Emi squeaked from over Ian’s shoulder. Her face was facing behind Ian, so she couldn’t see who she was talking to.

“Don’t worry, little lady. You’re with Laxus right? I bet he wouldn’t want to make you wait any longer for someone to beat this guy’s ass.”

“I’d love to see you try, big guy.”

Suddenly, a huge snake was sent towards Gildarts, slithering at top speed. Gildarts simply put his hand up in the direction of the snake, making the creature break into pieces. Emi could only see the pieces of the snake as it blew past Ian. She could sense the overwhelming magical power that was radiating off this figure. 

Gildarts quickly defeated Ian. He took Emi and helped her get up before starting to walk through the forest. 

“You live in these woods?”

Emi looked at him before nodding her head hesitantly. She thanked him for saving her, which caused Gildarts to start laughing.

“Hell, I wouldn’t want to be the guy to let someone steal a woman from Laxus Dreyar. Things would get very ugly fairly quickly.”

Emi smiled, replying with, “Yeah. He does have a temper on him at times.”

“At times?” Gildarts continued to laugh. “Try every day of the week.”

“Do you know Laxus closely?”

“I’m a Fairy Tail wizard. We go way back. I’m Gildarts, but I’m sure you’ve heard of me.”

Emi stopped walking and looked up at the man in shock before Gildarts nodded towards her, assuring her that he was telling the truth. 

“I’ve read about you in books! This is so cool! I finally got to meet someone who could totally kick Laxus’s ass!”

“Books? Didn’t know I was that much of a stud.”

Gildarts’ laugh could probably be heard from the other side of the forest. _It’s been a long time since I knew someone who wanted Laxus beat up. Pretty surprising that it’s his own girlfriend though._

“Tell you what,” Gildarts promised, “I’ll make sure to fight him when I see him next.”

Emi’s head was spinning. She couldn’t control her excitement. She grabbed his hand and started to run back to the clearing, dragging Gildarts along with her. She hurriedly ushered him in the house.

“He’ll be back any minute. _Please_ wait for him.”

\-----------------------------

“I gotta say, that girl is quite impressive.”

Everyone at the guild looked towards Gildarts. They all asked him what had happened and everyone gasped when they heard that Emi was almost kidnapped by Snake Fang.

“I told that boy that she was in danger and he didn’t listen to me!”

“Don’t worry, master, I already beat him for you.”

Everyone let out a _“what?!”_ before Gildrats explained that Emi wanted him to challenge Laxus to a match.

“She was actually cheering for me to kick his ass instead of rooting for him. It was quite a sight watching her smile and laugh as her boyfriend laid doubled over.”

\---------------------

“You could have at least pretended to be concerned.”

“I was concerned.”

“Because cheering for someone who beat me is showing so much concern.”

“Oh come on, that was _the Gildarts_ of Fairy Tail!”

“Yeah, I know. I was _in_ Fairy Tail.”

“He’s so cool!” Emi had stars in her eyes as she continued, “Look! He even signed my book!”

Emi quickly pushed the autographed book cover in the lightning mage’s face, earning a groan from the injured wizard. 

“You’ll be fine. You’ll just be uncomfortable for a little while and then you’ll feel all better!”

“You have obviously not fought powerful people. And you certainly haven’t fought Gildarts before.”


	13. Sick

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! This is just a short chapter, but I promise the next one will be regular length. Enjoy!

“Gildarts left a note for you, Master.”

Makarov read the note, stating that Gildarts was resigning from being Fairy Tail’s newest master. He also appointed Makarov to return as the master, ending his retirement plans. However, his last note struck home with Makarov.

_‘I am now lifting the exile order of Laxus Dreyar. If the current master believes that Laxus can return to the guild, he should tell him to do so.’_

After complaining, Makarov ripped up the letter and yelled about how he was never going to try to retire again.

\-----------------

“Are you feeling any better?”

Within the last week, Laxus had developed the flu. Emi looked over towards the lightning mage, noticing his pale face, his shaking body, and the sweat that dripped from the sides of his head. She sighed before replacing the wet cloth on his forehead, earning a groan. 

“Did you want any soup? I can make it without celery.”

“Please make it without the sauce, too. If I taste anything spicy I might just puke.”

Emi nodded before going to the kitchen and making some soup. Once she returned, the white-haired woman carefully held a spoon out for Laxus and told him to open his mouth. 

“You are absolutely,” Laxus started before a wave of coughs crashed into him, “ _not_ feeding me.”

“You’re sick!”

“I don’t care how sick I am. I can take care of myself.”

Laxus had taken the soup away from the woman. Once he smelled it and detected the absence of hot sauce, he lifted the spoon and tried to drink it himself. Just before he was about to spill the soup on his lap, Emi steadied the spoon with her hand. Emi looked at the dragon slayer and smirked before getting up to leave.

“Well I guess if you’re adamant about doing it yourself, then I can leave you all alone with your soup.”

“...Wait.”

Emi’s smirk grew before slowly turning around to face him.

“Yes?”

Laxus looked down at his soup and refused to make eye contact with the woman before he said, “Will you please help me eat?”

Emi smiled wide before skipping back over to the bed. She looked at Laxus, gave him a quick “of course!” and helped guide the spoon of soup into Laxus’s mouth. After finishing the soup, Laxus had begun to drift into sleep. He, however, was never able to stay asleep due to the coughing and shaking. Emi would come in to check on him every once in a while and frowned when she would see that he was struggling to get comfortable.

“Here, move your head.” Emi fixed his pillow and smiled softly. She guided his head down to the pillow and gently ran her fingers through his hair. She heard a quiet hum, and she did this until the dragon slayer fell asleep. 

In the morning, Laxus opened his eyes to see Emi leaning with her head on the edge of the bed and one hand on his head. His gaze became warmer as he took in the sight of her sleeping form. 

“Idiot.”


	14. Cuddle

“Gramps, where are you going? It’s way too early to be doing anything.”

“I am going to check on Laxus.”

Those who were at the guild all looked at their master in shock. He had finally made the initiative to go alone. Some thought that it was about time that they have a serious conversation. Others were hopeful that they would be able to work things out as a family.

“Well I’m coming too!”

About eight people yelled, “Natsu!”

“Well if he’s going,” Gray said, “then I’m going too. I’m not letting this dumbass cause any trouble.”

“What did you say, Snow White?!”

“Come on guys,” Lucy whined, “It’s way too early for this.”

“Lucy and I will also accompany you, master.”

Lucy jumped at the sound of her name. “Erza? Why are we going?”

“To stop any fighting and to administer any punishment needed to keep them in line,” Erza said very seriously, causing the rest of the guild to look at Gray and Natsu with pity.

Makarov sighed in defeat before ushering them all to the train station.

“Well so much for their heart to heart, eh Wakaba?”

“Macao, we all know that it wouldn’t happen smoothly. This is Fairy Tail.”

Upon arriving at Hargeon, Natsu ran out of the train, breathing in the fresh air. Lucy had fallen asleep on the train and woke up to Erza shaking her. Gray and Makarov stepped off the train and stretched. 

“I can’t wait to see what she cooks for breakfast,” Natsu said giddily. 

“Why did I have to get dragged into this?” Lucy complains while yawning.

Makarov had a serious look on his face as he walked directly to the outside of town and through the forest, making all the others try to keep up. Once they arrived at the clearing, Natsu ran for the front door and knocked. 

“What if we end up waking them up?” Gray asked.

“Oh no, Laxus would kill us! Let’s head back everyone before he sees us,” Lucy nervously suggested.

“They’re not answering. Come on, Emi and Laxus. I want to eat!”

“Idiot, stop knocking! They might be asleep.”

Makarov made his way up to the front door before looking through his pockets. He took out a small key and made Natsu step to the side. 

“Is that…” Lucy started.

“...A key?” Gray finished.

With one twist, the front door was unlocked and quietly creaked open. Everyone looked at the master in shock, confused as to why he had a key to their house.

“That child gave me a key before we left the last time, saying that I could use it whenever,” Makarov calmly explained, “Emi is truly a kind and gentle soul.”

They all quietly stepped into the house, except for Natsu who very loudly walked straight to the fridge and started eating whatever leftovers he could find. As Natsu was occupied in the kitchen, the rest of the group started to check the rooms on the main floor. Once they saw that the entire level was empty, they all concluded that the couple was still sleeping. 

“I wish to check their bedrooms,” Erza suddenly stated.

“Um...why exactly would you want to do that?” Lucy asked, confused as to why it was necessary.

“I find that it would be useful to see if the empty bedroom is occupied today so that we could sleep there until they wake up.”

“I really don’t think Laxus would appreciate that,” Gray yawned.

“I really don’t think,” Lucy continued, “that Laxus would appreciate us breaking into his house while he is sleeping.”

Natsu called out from the kitchen, defending their actions because they had a key.

“Natsu, stop shouting,” Lucy hissed.

Erza started up the stairs, Makarov following close behind her. Gray looked to the master before following their lead. Lucy sighed and protested a little before eventually following behind. Once they made it to the top of the stairs, they realized that they had forgotten the layout of the rooms and had no idea which room was the spare room. Erza formed a plan where they would split up and search for the empty room of the three bedrooms.

Gray had found an empty bedroom and went to tell the others. 

“That’s strange,” Erza started, “because I also found an empty bedroom.”

“Hey guys,” Lucy’s voice was extremely quiet as she spoke, “you have to see this.”

Makarov, Gray and Erza quietly stepped closer to the door. Their eyes went wide as they saw the scene in front of them. The couple was there in bed, Laxus softly snoring. He was on the left side of the bed, so he was facing the door. Emi was tucked beside him, her face towards Laxus’s chest. The dragon slayer had an arm draped over the woman and his head on top of hers. Emi was snuggled into his chest and smiling softly in her sleep. 

“Damn,” Gray managed to get out, still completely in shock.

“I knew they shared a bedroom!” Lucy whispered.

“This is quite a sight, yes master?”

Makarov didn’t look away from the couple. How could Laxus be so different? He would never do this. 

“It seems,” Makarov finally spoke, “that this girl has somehow broken those walls of arrogance that he once had.”

The master then opened the bedroom door wider and walked inside.

“Master?! What are you doing? If you wake them up he might…” Lucy didn’t dare finish her sentence at the thought of a pissed Laxus.

Master Makorov ignored her warnings and walked over to the dresser before taking one of the pictures on it and walking out of the room. He then motioned them all back downstairs into the living room. 

“He has grown so much, everyone. He became his happy self again.”

Makarov revealed the picture to the rest of the group. It was the one of Laxus and Emi smiling and posing behind a snowman. Everyone looked at it in awe. 

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen Laxus smile,” Lucy concluded.

“He smiled a lot as a child,” Makarov explained, “but he changed once his father was exiled. He became irritable, moody and arrogant with age. This eventually led to his actions and his eventual exile from Fairy Tail.” 

“I’ve seen his change first-hand. He’ll always be moody, but he cares about others so much and he’ll do anything to protect the ones that he holds dear. That’s why he’s taking down all the dark guilds. Each one he has defeated has had an agenda to attack Fairy Tail. He’s been preventing the attacks by eliminating the source of danger.”

Everyone whipped their heads around to see a sleepy Emi standing in the archway to the living room. 

“How did you--”

“I heard footsteps down the stairs.”

“I apologize for intruding and overstepping my privileges of owning a key to your home,” Makarov stated.

“Oh no. Master Grampa, it’s totally fine!”

“Please child, just call me Gramps.”

“I could never be so informal to you, Master Grampa.”

Footsteps could be heard coming down the stairs. Laxus entered the living room with his shirt off, revealing his black tattoo. 

“Em, why are you up so ear---”

Laxus took in the sight before him and growled.

“What the hell are you all doing here so goddamn early? It’s seven o’clock in the morning.”

“Laxus, I need to speak with you alone.”

“If you needed to speak with me alone then why did you bring these guys with you old man?”

“It’s too early to argue, Laxus,” Emi begged, “They probably just wanted to see you or protect Master Grampa from attack in the dark.”

\-----------------------------------

“What do you want, old man?”

Emi had brought the rest of the group members to the kitchen while Laxus and Makarov spoke in the dragon slayer’s bedroom for privacy. Emi easily distracted a nosy Natsu by cooking breakfast.

Laxus and Makarov looked at each other for a moment before the master let out a sigh. He turned away from his grandson. 

“You’ve changed.”

“That’s all I’ve been hearing from you, but so what?”

Makarov started to tear up, and he started bawling when he faced Laxus again. 

“I’m just so happy that you found your way again. And Emi has told me what you’ve been doing these past years and it makes me proud. The way you are standing up for and defending your family is what a true Fairy Tail wizard is about.”

“There’s just one thing wrong with that - I’m not in Fairy Tail.”

Makarov looked deep in thought for a moment before his face turned very serious.

“Would you like to be?”

Laxus, still tired, did not comprehend what his grandfather was saying. He yawned a couple times and looked at Makarov before turning his head back to face the master as he questioned, “What?”

“I am asking you if you would like to join Fairy Tail.”

“I got kicked out, remember?”

“I am saying,” Makarov continued, getting frustrated, “that you are free to rejoin Fairy Tail if you wish.”

“Oh.”

Makarov waited for an answer, but just received an invitation to breakfast instead. Laxus walked out of the bedroom and ventured downstairs to the kitchen. Fairy Tail’s master looked at the door in confusion before growing angry and storming down the stairs and into the kitchen.

“YOU ROTTEN CHILD. I TELL YOU THAT YOU CAN COME BACK AND YOU IGNORE ME?”

Emi looked at Laxus questioningly and received a simple shrug in return before Laxus sat down in his usual seat. Emi inwardly laughed at how worked up the master was getting and asked the two if they wanted any waffles. Laxus agreed and eventually Makarov stopped yelling and agreed to food, as he was completely worn out from his energy from yelling. 

Emi happily started to make waffles for the group. She was just about done when she felt a large hand grab hers. Emi looked up at the lightning mage for a second and then saw that she was holding the hot sauce in her hands, ready to pour it onto the waffles. 

“Too early, Em.”


	15. Hugging Time

Emi walked into the living room to see Laxus staring at the wall. She slowly made her way over to him and gently put a hand on his shoulder. Laxus jumped slightly from his chair, obviously frightened by the sudden contact. He turned his head to look at the woman before turning back to the wall.

“Are you okay? You’ve been in here for a while.”

Laxus let out a quiet hum in response before standing up and stretching. 

“Just thinking.”

He was telling the truth. He was thinking about his grandfather’s conversation with him. About being able to rejoin Fairy Tail.

A soft smile appeared on Emi’s face, relieved that nothing was wrong. However, her concern resurfaced when Laxus suddenly walked over to her. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into him. He bent down and his head rested on her shoulder. Emi’s eyes widened at his sudden movement.

“Uh, Laxus? What’s wrong?”

His arms only grew tighter around her. Emi instinctively started to rub his back. Laxus barely hugged unless it was to say goodbye before heading off on a request. Even so, this one felt different than the others. This realization brought more worry to the woman. Emi started to question the mage again. 

“Laxu--”

“Just one more minute.”

\----------------------

“Oh man! I told you we could get in a quick visit after our job! We can get another meal, Happy!”

“Natsu,” Lucy scolded, “you can’t just keep showing up and demanding food.”

“Lucy is right,” Erza said, “you mustn’t take advantage of her kindness.”

Gray continued, “Besides, Laxus looks like he’s getting annoyed with all of us coming all the time.”

“Who cares about that guy. I want to see Emi!”

“Aye sir!”

“You just want to have her cook for you,” Lucy muttered. 

The group made their way through the forest before stopping at the clearing. Natsu and Happy led the way, and Wendy and Charle walked behind everyone else. 

“Charle, how come everyone seems shocked with Laxus? Is it really that weird for him to be with someone?”

“Wendy,” Charle started matter-of-factly, “from what I’ve heard, Laxus was known as a very temperamental and rude person before he put his comrades against each other, leading to his exile. I’m sure everyone finds it strange to see that same mage chooses to engage in domestic life.”

“We’re here!” Natsu screamed.

As Natsu started to run towards the house, Erza grabbed him by the back of his overcoat. She silenced his protests and dragged him back to the edge of the forest where the rest of the group followed. Wendy was the one who stayed in the clearing, confused as to why the rest of Team Natsu had suddenly retreated. They were so close afterall. Lucy made a quiet “psst” and waved her hand for Wendy to come back. 

“Everyone, what’s wrong? Why are you hiding?”

Charle flew out into the clearing, scooped up Wendy and flew back to where everyone was hiding. 

“Child, you shouldn’t get caught like this. The group obviously sensed danger and you should follow them.”

“I still don’t understand, Charle. I don’t sense anyone else in the forest.”

“Wendy,” Gray spoke up, “it’s not dangerous in the _forest_. It’s dangerous in the _house_.”

“Is Miss Emi in trouble?” Wendy innocently asked. 

“No,” Lucy nervously said, “but we sure will be if he sees us.”

Wendy looked confused before turning back to look at the house. They all looked in the window to what the group assumed to be the living room. Standing there was Emi and Laxus. They shared what seemed to be a rather intimate embrace, with Emi’s hands in the lightning mage’s hair and Laxus’s face in the side of her neck. 

“We are so dead,” Lucy stated. 

“I agree,” Erza said, making everyone even more nervous, “I believe we should leave before we are seen.”

They all walked through the forest and back to Hargeon, careful not to make any noises that might draw attention to them. 

“They’re in _llllooooove_.”

“Happy!” Lucy hissed. “He’ll hear you!”

\----------------------------

“Feeling any better?”

Laxus simply hummed into the woman’s shoulder before loosening his grip and pulling away from the hug. His flat expression appeared on his face once more, causing Emi to giggle. He was obviously trying to make it seem like he didn’t care, but a very faint red tint was seen on his ears. 

“Well?”

“This whole Fairy Tail thing is so stupid. How can they just come out of nowhere and start to--”

“Try to get you back into their lives?”

Laxus stayed silent.

“It’s because they care about you. Even after what you might have done in the past. You said Fairy Tail treated everyone like family, right?”

“Don’t see how that’s relevant.”

“You’re still family to them, no matter what happens. They worry about you and are curious to see how you are after so long.” Emi smirked before looking back up at him, continuing, “Especially Master Grampa. I don’t know if you noticed, but he didn’t come all this way to have a meal that an unknown woman was making just because Natsu said so.”

Laxus slowly sat down on a rocking chair and put his head in his hands. He let out a huge sigh. 

“After everything I did, why would they possibly want anything to do with me?”

“Were you just ignoring everything I said? Because they love you. Because they care about you, your safety, and your happiness. You big dummy.”

Emi made her way to the mage’s side and touched his shoulder again. 

“They want to see what you’ve been doing in these three years, and they were finally able to find you. Of course they’ll want to come around so often! Hell, the whole entire guild came with no hesitation just to see you.”

Laxus let out a small laugh before turning to the shorter woman. He looked up from his seat and ruffled her hair, emitting an annoyed squeak from Emi. 

“Great,” Emi complained, “This is the third time today that you messed up my hair. It’ll never look the same again.”


	16. Crying

“I’m leaving for a job. I’ll be back soon,” Laxus called from the front door.

“What a coincidence. I’m leaving on a job as well.”

Laxus hummed before asking her to elaborate. She spoke of a rather simple request that an older woman had asked her to do. She was asked to gather different flowers for her granddaughter’s wedding. Emi was also asked to arrange these flowers for the centerpieces. Emi liked going on these sorts of jobs. She knew she could never handle a wizard’s job, so she tried to keep herself busy with jobs that she could accomplish. This mostly included deliveries and decorating, but she was able to still get payment from the clients. 

In return, Laxus briefed Emi on his job. He was to help transfer a prisoner to the Magic Council for an arraignment. This request came from the Magic Council themselves, as they knew that the wizard was not someone to be intimidated by a criminal. 

“Are you sure you’re feeling better? It might be dangerous.”

“Don’t worry about me. I’ll be alright. Besides, this guy’s gonna be in chains the entire time.”

As Laxus was entering the forest, he heard Emi call out to him.

“Don’t you let that guy hurt you. I’ll kick your ass if you do!”

Laxus looked over his shoulder to the woman before waving her off.

“Yeah and don’t let any flowers make you bleed again. I’ll kick your ass.”

\----------------------

“Oh my,” an older woman gushed, “you’re a total natural at this. Look at all the arrangements! They’re absolutely beautiful.”

Emi looked away and slightly blushed. The woman was the one who put in the request, and it warmed Emi’s heart to see that the woman was pleased with her efforts. Emi turned back to the flowers before picking up her favorite arrangement. The white haired woman presented the flowers to the older woman to ask for her approval. 

“This one is a mixture of blue larkspur, snapdragons and myrtles.”

The woman carefully took the vase from Emi and spun it around. 

“This is it,” the woman declared, “This is the one we will use. Absolutely amazing.” 

Emi beamed with pride as she started to make copies of the example bouquet that the woman approved. After about two hours, all the flowers were arranged in perfect groups. Emi helped the woman bring the flower arrangements with her. The older woman thanked Emi before handing her the reward and heading back to the wedding location so she could set it up.

\--------------------------

“So you’re telling me this guy had the balls to attack a wizard saint?”

Laxus was currently talking to Yajima for a briefing on the prisoner. The Magic Council member told him that this man, Klide, had attacked Jura of Lamia Scale. Klide had been easily beaten and turned into the Council a couple days ago. Laxus was now there to help transport Klide to the official holding chamber.

Laxus yanked the prisoner by the back of his shirt and threw him into the other carriage. Klide complained about how Laxus was being “too rough” with handling him, to which the dragon slayer responded by saying that he could make it worse if he kept complaining. The ride was mostly silent. Laxus’s attention was somewhere else, thinking over what his grandfather had said. Why was he being allowed to go back after everything he did to them?

They were almost at their destination when Klide suddenly stood up and threw himself out the window. Laxus quickly jumped out of the carriage as well and landed right beside the prisoner. As Laxus was going to pick him up, Klide came at him with a small knife. Laxus dodged his swings and kicked him in the gut before roughly tossing him back into the carriage. Laxus looked at the prisoner with annoyance when he felt something warm on his cheek. 

After wiping his face and finding a small cut on his cheek with a little blood dripping out, he let out a groan, “Great. She’s gonna kill me. Do you know how much trouble I’m going to be in thanks to you?”

The prisoner smirked as he spat, “You deserve any pain that comes your way. How dare you mess with Klide Fora!”

\---------------------------

Emi was happily walking with one of the example bouquets that the older woman had let her take home. This one was made of pink lilies and laceleaf. She admired the pink and white combination as she hummed to herself. Once she made it back to Hargeon, the woman skipped through the forest. 

About halfway through the forest, Emi set the flowers down to readjust one of her shoes which had slipped off. Emi looked up and saw one of the sunbeams sneaking through the trees and smiled at the beauty. However, the sharp pains in her temples emerged once again as she knelt down in extreme pain. She clenched her teeth as hard as she could and squeezed her eyes shut until they hurt. Her hands were over her ears as she heard a loud screech. 

_Emi looked up at the sky as she played with a young boy. The boy said that they were late for dinner and that they should head back to their village before it got dark out. Emi happily agreed and took the boy’s hand and started running._

_“I’ll race you there!”_

_The two children ran all the way to the hill that sat right behind the village. Once the two made it over the hill, their eyes widened._

_“Oh no. What’s happening, Emi?”_

_Emi looked at the village in shock. She immediately started to run for her house at the center of the village. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing. There in the center of the village was an extremely tall looking creature. It had large hands and horns. Emi looked up at the monster as she was running and she saw a green laser beam shoot out of its mouth before turning to powerful flames as it hit multiple houses._

_Emi saw a couple starting to run out of their house._

_“Mommy!”_

_The couple turned their heads to see their daughter before telling her to run as far away as possible. Just then, another green laser was shot out of the monster towards Emi’s house, completely destroying it. Smoke clouded the girl’s vision as she tried to look at the destruction. Once the smoke cleared, all she could see was her house almost disintegrated and her parents lying motionless on the ground._

_The girl turned her head when she heard her name being called and saw the boy running towards her._

Emi screamed in pain as the memory flooded into her. She couldn’t stop crying. 

“My parents...my village? Was it really destroyed? Were they really killed?”

Emi’s tears continued as she mourned a family she didn’t remember having. She finally forced herself up, picked up the flowers, and slowly made her way through the forest to the clearing. She silently entered the house with her head hung low. 

“Hey, you’re finally back. I was starting to worry. Did you enjoy the job?”

Laxus didn’t get a response. Emi put the flowers down on the kitchen table before walking upstairs, not making eye contact with the mage. Laxus watched the girl he knew as always cheerful and saw the tears coming down and dripping under her chin. The dragon slayer looked at Emi with concern and waited a half hour to let her settle down. When she still hadn’t come back downstairs, Laxus decided to check on her. She wasn’t in her bedroom, so he checked his room and the spare room. Emi wasn’t in either. 

Laxus heard a small whimper coming from the bathroom, causing him to softly knock on the door. Her whimpers didn’t stop and the mage could hear that she wasn’t going to calm down anytime soon. He slowly opened the bathroom door, silently thanking that she didn’t lock it, and spotted Emi sitting in the bathtub with her head tucked into her knees and her arms tightly interlocked. Laxus looked at the sight and started frowning. 

“Hey.”

Emi looked up for a moment before placing her head back into her knees. She reluctantly responded with a small “hi” before she started to sob. Laxus looked down at the woman and slowly walked over to the tub before sitting down and leaning his back up against the outside of the tub.

“Why’re you here? You weren't supposed to be back before me.”

Laxus looked at her and told her that the prisoner had been easily transported and that he was able to finish rather quickly. They spoke without looking at each other, with Emi not looking up from her knees and Laxus with his back facing her and looking at the door. Emi’s sniffles echoed in the bathroom as the lightning mage sat and waited patiently for her to settle down. When he realized that she wasn’t getting any better, he reached his right hand behind him and onto Emi’s head in the tub. He slowly started to stroke her hair, something that helped her to calm down when really upset. 

Eventually, Emi’s sniffles stopped and were replaced with slow breathing. Laxus looked behind him to see that the woman had fallen asleep. He stood up, carefully picked her up, slowly entered her room and gently placed her under her covers on her bed. He could see the dried stains that stuck to her cheeks and frowned again. As he went to walk out of the room, he felt a weak pull as a hand wrapped around his wrist. 

“Please don’t leave me alone,” Emi whimpered.

Laxus drifted to the empty side of the bed before laying down. He gently tugged her shoulder and Emi turned so she was facing his chest. He pulled her closer and let her continue to cry until she eventually fell asleep.


	17. Deal

It was the next day and Emi had seemed to recover fairly well. Her bright smile was on her face once again and she woke up early to make a big breakfast. Laxus woke up as he heard pans clanging against each other and traveled down the stairs before entering the kitchen. He let out a loud yawn before making his way to stand behind Emi.

“I’m sorry. I accidentally dropped some pans. Did I wake you?”

Laxus let out another yawn before assuring her that she hadn’t and lazily placing his head on top of hers as he watched her cook. Emi was cracking a couple of eggs and making an omelette. She placed bacon and cheese in the pan as well before reaching into the cabinet. Laxus quickly grabbed her hand, causing Emi to notice that she once again was about to ruin the meal. He carefully guided the bottle so that a small amount dripped into the pan.

“You can add a little to an omelette, but not as much as you usually do.”

Emi smiled wide as she watched the hot sauce mix with the other ingredients. Once the food was finished cooking, Laxus and Emi sat down to eat. Emi then noticed something on the dragon slayer’s face, causing her to get up from her seat and take his face in her hands.

“You’re hurt.”

“Relax, it’s just a scratch.”

“What happened? I thought you said it went smoothly.”

“The guy pulled a knife on me as he was trying to escape.”

“A _knife?_ They let him have a _knife_?”

“I’m fine, Em.”

“I was so caught up in my own problems that I couldn’t even realize that you were injured. I am so sorry. Let’s get it disinfected right away and then I can--”

It was the mage’s turn to take her face in his hands. 

“Relax, brat. We’ll eat first and then deal with it.”

“Hey! You promised me you wouldn’t let that guy hurt you!”

Laxus looked away, boredom apparent. He knew as soon as it happened that he would have to endure a lecture from the short woman. Emi’s expression changed to one of sadness.

“You can’t die too.”

Laxus looked back to her, confused and worried about her sudden statement.

“Uh, Em?”

“I remembered something.”

“Is that why you were so upset yesterday?”

Emi huffed, puffing her cheeks out and looking away before replying, “I was perfectly fine yesterday. It was just allergies.”

“Sure.”

“I remembered some sort of gigantic monster who attacked the village that I lived in. There was a lot of fire and I saw my parents die.”

Emi started to cry again before Laxus guided her to sit down in her chair.

“I didn’t even know I had parents. I just thought that I never knew them. I can’t even remember their names or what they were like. I can’t remember anything!” Emi spoke through her crying.

Laxus awkwardly patted her shoulder before sitting down next to her.

“You know,” Emi joked, “you’re not very informed on how to comfort someone, are you?”

“Shut up. I’m doing a great job.”

Emi laughed before placing a hand on top of his. 

“Well, thanks.”

\----------------------------------------

“Master?”

“I can’t believe that stubborn child brushed off my offer! I tell him he can come back to the guild and he walks away from me!” Makarov shouted. 

“No way!” Natsu exclaimed. “Laxus is coming back to Fairy Tail?!”

Upon hearing Natsu’s declaration, everyone in the guildhall turned towards Makarov, waiting for confirmation.

“Not yet, my boy.”

“What? Why?!”

Makarov started calmly and then grew louder with frustration, “Because that boy is way too STUBBORN AND HE CAN’T TELL WHAT’S GOOD FOR HIM!” 

\------------------------------

Laxus sneezed as he washed the dishes in the sink. Emi giggled, knowing that someone was speaking about him. She didn’t tease him though because she knew he would never believe it. 

“You’re not doing your job. You’re supposed to be drying, remember?”

“I am!”

“Then why is there a backup of pans and dishes at the side of the sink?” Laxus asked with a raised eyebrow.

Emi grumbled before drying at a faster speed, shaking each dry dish and pan as a way to show him that she was doing it. As they were washing and drying, Laxus suddenly spoke up.

“The old man said I could come back to Fairy Tail if I wanted.”

A plate smashed on the floor as Emi stood there in shock. After a few seconds a huge smile appeared on her face.

“That’s awesome! When are you going back? Everyone will be so happy.”

“I don’t think I will.”

“What? Why? Isn’t that what you wanted for years?”

“I don’t really know anymore. A lot of things have changed in three years.”

Emi put both hands on her hips. She looked at him with a fire in his eyes.

“You’re telling me that you don’t want to go back to your family? You would rather stay in this house all alone, knowing that your family wants you to come back and you denied them? That you threw away all the hard work you did to help your family to stay in an isolated house in the woods?”

Laxus stayed silent.

“You’re going back.”

“Since when have you made decisions for me?”

“Don’t start with the attitude, mister. Your family loves you and wants you to go home, and you _will_ go home.”

“Why do you want me to go so badly? Sick of me?”

“Laxus,” Emi started, “you have a family that cares about you. A living family. People who you share good memories with. I don’t want you to throw it away because you think you have to stay with me. I would much rather you return to Fairy Tail to be with your family then have you stay here and wonder what might happen if you had left.”

Laxus grumbled before heading out the door.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Emi asked accusingly.

“I’m going to talk to the old man.”

\------------------------------------

A sudden bolt of lightning struck just outside the guild. Everyone jumped at the sudden noise before the front doors slowly opened. Laxus calmly walked in, scanning the room for Makarov. Natsu immediately challenged him to a fight, which led to Laxus throwing him across the guild and onto a table. 

“Where’s the old man?”

Mira spoke up, telling him that the master was in his office. Laxus stepped around the crowds of wizards and knocked on the office door. After hearing a quiet “come in,” Laxus opened the doors and leaned against a wall with his arms crossed. Makarov looked up from his paperwork to see that his grandson was the visitor, causing him to push his paperwork aside and cross his arms as well. 

“About your offer…”

Makarov looked up and let out a breath, “So you’ve finally come to your senses, have you? I’ll go get the stam--”

“I’m going to have to decline.”

“WHAT?”

Laxus looked away from his grandfather for a second before turning back to him and started to say something.

“I really appreciate it, but I just have a lot of--”

“YOU STUBBORN CHILD WHY WON’T YOU JUST COME BACK?”

Laxus looked annoyed as he tried to continue, “I have to honor my promise.”

Makarov stopped yelling and looked at him questioningly, asking, “Promise?”

“I’ve been traveling with Em for two years, and I promised her that I would stay by her side until she regained her memories. She’s only able to remember little bits and they’re scattered all over the place. She just remembered her family the other day, and I can’t leave her alone after that.”

Makarov shifted his gaze out of the office window.

“Gramps,” Laxus started, causing the master to whip his head around to face him. He hadn’t called him that since before he left the guild. “I’m the only person she has right now. I’m not going to leave her alone.”

“I never said you needed to.”

Laxus looked confused and let out a loud “huh?” to his grandfather. 

“You’re sure she’s not a wizard?”

“Not once in the years that I’ve been with her have I detected any sort of magical energy from her.”

Makarov put his hand to his chin and thought for a moment. 

“Well then, I guess she’ll just have to work at the bar.”

“Gramps…”

“If she joins Fairy Tail, will you come back?”

“Yes.”


	18. Memories

_“You can do this.”_

_A young Emi looked at the man with tears in her eyes, crying out, “I can’t do it, Cain.”_

_“Come on, kid. You’ll never get strong if you don’t train.”_

_“I can’t move anymore. We did too much running.”_

_“You want to defeat the demon, right?”_

_Emi nodded before pulling herself up and putting her fists in the air._

Emi woke up with a jolt, confused by her dream. _Cain? Demon?_

She made her way down to the kitchen just as Laxus was coming through the front door.

“Why do you look so confused?”

“Do you know anyone named Cain?”

Laxus shook his head and prompted her to keep talking.

“I had a dream during my nap and I was with someone named Cain. He was talking about ‘defeating the demon,’ whatever that means.”

“I’ve never met or heard of anyone named Cain.”

“Do you think the thing I saw the other day was a demon?”

“I think I know who you can talk to. Let’s go,” Laxus insisted. 

\---------------------

After a rather quick train ride, Emi dragged Laxus through the town, making sure both of them put on their cloaks. 

“Do you really think Gray will know about this stuff?”

“Pretty sure.”

Once Emi caught a glimpse at the Fairy Tail sign, the woman started running as fast as she could. 

“Em, be careful! Slow down.”

Emi quickly reached the doors to the guild and swung them open.

“Gray!”

Everyone looked over towards the cloaked figure. 

“Uh, yeah? Who are you?”

Emi whipped off her hood, revealing her white hair and smiling face.

“EMI!” Natsu screamed, immediately going over to her and hugged her. “I was just coming over to you to visit. I have this cool recipe that I want you to try and I think it’ll taste great with hot sa--”

“Gray! I have to talk to you right away!”

Natsu looked at Gray and started to pick a fight with him, saying that he was distracting Emi from her mission. Gray started yelling back at him, saying he had no idea what either of them were talking about. 

“Em, don’t run ahead like that,” Laxus blurted through his heavy breathing. 

Emi had an idea that would separate the fire and ice wizards long enough to grab Gray.

“Hey, Natsu. Laxus said that he wants to fight you. He said he can kick your ass.”

“Oh yeah, I’d like to see you try. Fight me!”

Laxus looked over at Emi with an annoyed look before realizing what she was doing. The lightning mage sighed and played along. Emi quickly made her way over to Gray and asked if he knew about a demon that had matched her description from her memory. Gray’s eyes became big as she spoke.

“It sounds like...Deliora.”

“Deliora? Who’s that?”

“A demon from the Book of Zeref. He attacked my village and killed everyone including my parents.”

“It has to be him then. That’s exactly what I saw in my memory. Do you know what happened to Deliora?”

“My teacher, Ur, locked him away with something similar to a sealing magic. He’s taken care of.”

Emi listened to every word that Gray said, careful to make mental notes of anything that she could use later.

“Master Grampa, where is the library in this town?”

“LIbrary? Why do you need to go there?” Natsu whined. “I should be showing you this cool recipe I found!”

“Natsu,” Gray warned, “she just learned something very important about her past, so will you shut up?”

Gray sounded very annoyed with the fire mage, more so than usual. Everyone noticed his increased irritation and knew that it was because he had to speak of the demon that had caused so much pain for him. Gray told her where the library was and sat back down and engaged in idle conversation with Wendy and Lucy.

As Emi darted out the door, Levy followed closely behind her, shouting, “Emi! I can help you look if you want. I practically live in that library, so I know where a lot of books are.”

“That would be a great help. Thank you.”

Once the pair had left, Laxus sat down at the bar and ordered a drink. Makarov looked over to the lightning mage before hopping onto the bar. 

“Have you discussed with her my offer?”

“I was going to this morning, but another memory came back.”

“I think that it was best that you brought her here to speak with Gray. That girl deserves answers for her past.”

\----------------

Emi and Levy had located several books on Deliora. 

“Levy, do you know anything about the Book of Zeref?”

“Let’s see,” Levy started thinking out loud, “There was the incident with the Lullaby, but Lucy and the others were able to stop anything too serious. The demon you are interested in, Deliora, he was also from the Book of Zeref. Just like Gray said, he would attack villages and...eliminate anyone who lived there.”

Emi looked down for a moment before nodding. Levy and Emi started to read a few books. Emi looked over at Levy to see that she was flying through the pile of books that she found.

“Woah, how are you reading so fast? I thought I read fast and I haven’t even finished a chapter.”

“I use these,” Levy pointed to her glasses, “They help me read super fast. They’re called gale-force reading glasses. I have an extra pair if you want to try them. It makes reading so much simpler.” 

Levy handed over her extra pair of the magic glasses and they both turned back to the books. 

“Holy crap!” Emi exclaimed in wonder. “These things are amazing.”

Emi and Levy looked at each other and laughed before Levy called the woman over saying that she thought she saw something interesting.

“According to this journal, Deliora wasn’t the only demon from the Book of Zeref, but that was kind of obvious from the other accounts we read. Apparently there are higher ranked demons that stand above Deliora.”

“So there are things stronger than a demon that can annihilate towns in one shot?”

“Looks like it.”

\--------------------

“Laxus, why isn’t she back yet? It’s getting late and I’m hungry.”

“How the hell should I know? She’ll probably be a while longer. That brat loves to read.”

Natsu let out a frustrated groan before going back over to annoy Lucy. Gray and Natsu somehow ended up getting into an argument before the entire guild broke out into an all out brawl. Laxus sat over at the bar where Mira and Kinana were.

“So Laxus, do you miss this?”

“Absolutely not. These guys need to shut up every once in a while. I can’t even think.”

Mira giggled before her gaze shifted to the front door. Levy and Emi quietly walked into the guildhall to see a huge fight. 

“There they go again.”

“Is this normal?”

“It wouldn’t be a day in Fairy Tail if there wasn’t a fight.”

Emi and Levy went different directions. Emi spotted Laxus over at the bar and went to join him. 

“Miss Mira, can I have some apple juice please?”

Mira quickly filled up a glass and put it in front of Emi.

“I think you’re the only person to ask for a drink like that,” Mira teased.

“Hey Laxus, I found so many books in the library. I learned so much about Deliora and the Book of Zeref. Did you know that there are several other demons that exist that are even stronger than Deliora? Did you know that--”

A huge stream of flames came at the bar. Just as Laxus was about to block the attack, Gajeel jumped in front. He taunted the fire dragon slayer and started fighting again. Wendy crawled her way over to the bar, which seemed to be the only place that wasn’t chaotic and full of fighting wizards. After saying her greetings to Laxus and Emi, Wendy looked at Mira and asked if she could hide behind the counter until the fighting stopped. As the sky dragon slayer hid, Gajeel came back over.

“Where’s the kid? I know she’s over here.”

Forgetting that he was a dragon slayer, Emi asked Gajeel how he could tell. 

“I can smell her, duh.”

Emi smiled at the iron dragon slayer and turned back to her apple juice. Her head started to pulse with immense pain and she fell off her chair. Now on the floor, the woman rocked in pain, holding her head. Laxus was immediately at her side, and all fighting seemed to stop at the sight of the woman doubled over in pain. She suddenly started screaming.

_Emi looked at the sky as she sat on top of a hill covered in purple asters. She felt the calming breeze in her hair as she looked at the different shapes of the clouds. She seemed sad, but she didn’t know why._

_“Hey, there you are.”_

_Emi turned to see someone that she did not recognize, but it seemed that she knew him._

_“I just needed to get away from everyone. Kira and Ayame were at it again. I swear, they can be so pushy sometimes.”_

_The figure laughed. Emi tried to look at his face, but it was clouded over. All she could tell was that he looked like a teenager and that he was muscular._

_“How did you find me? I thought I snuck away pretty well.”_

_“I could smell ya, duh.”_

_Emi laughed before laying down again and staring at the clouds._

_“Mind if I join ya?”_

_“I would be offended if you didn’t, idiot.”_

_Emi sat up and took the man’s hands before pulling him down to the grass. They both laughed before the man sat down and pulled Emi into his lap, hugging her from behind._

_“What do you think that one looks like?” Emi asked as she pointed to a large cloud._

_“It’s obviously a hippo riding a dragon.”_

_“I was thinking more of an ostrich walking an elephant.”_

_They looked at each other and started laughing again._

“Em!”

Emi stopped shaking and looked up to Laxus who was leaning next to her with a concerned look in his eyes. Emi sniffled before holding onto one of his arms and pulling herself up. She looked at Laxus before realizing that everyone in the guild was watching her. She straightened her cloak and put up her hood before walking out of the guild.

“I’m fine.”


	19. Hunt

“Where the hell did she go?” Laxus grumbled as he walked through Magnolia. 

The Thunder God Tribe immediately suggested that they help him look for her as soon as Emi walked out. It had been about an hour since she suddenly left the guild. Once Freed returned to the guild, he revealed that they were unable to locate the woman. This caused everyone in the guild to help look. 

Gajeel looked at Laxus and apologized, saying that it seemed like he was the one who tripped her pain. Laxus looked at him and shook his head.

“It’s been happening a lot lately. It’s been getting worse each time.”

Natsu was the next one to speak up, shouting, “Well just leave it to us dragon slayers. We can smell her out if we have to.”

Hope seemed to return back to the worried members of Fairy Tail.

“Of course,” Lucy exclaimed. “How could I not think of that? We’ll let you all lead and we’ll split up with you to help look.”

“I doubt it’s going to work,” Laxus spoke up.

“Why would you think that?” Gray asked.

“If you all haven’t forgotten, _I’m_ a dragon slayer, too. And I haven’t been able to catch her scent anywhere.”

Hope seemed to leave the guild once again and everyone’s heads hung low. 

\-------------

_Who was that? And why did it seem like we were so close? I couldn’t even see his face, but I felt so warm around him._

After Emi had run away from the guild, she made her way through different alleys, making sure to conceal her scent by using a magical item she had picked up a while back called scent-be-gone. Emi laughed at the simple and rather direct name for the contraction, but she appreciated it in situations like this where she just wanted to be alone. 

Emi made her way to the edge of town, aimlessly walking. She had spotted a small bakery closer to Magnolia's center, so she started to head in that direction. Emi had made it about halfway to the shop when she accidentally bumped into someone.

“I’m so sorry. I wasn’t looking where I was going.”

“It’s fine.”

Emi looked up at the person she had bumped into and saw that it was a man with red eyes and black hair. He was wearing a cloak with a white guild crest on the left shoulder. His hair was blocking one of his eyes, so she couldn’t really see his face. 

“Fro thinks so too!”

Emi quickly whipped her head towards the ground where a green creature stood.

“Um, frog?”

“Cat,” the man corrected.

“Ribbit.”

_If he’s a cat then why is he making frog noises?_

“You’re very cute. What’s your name?” Emi asked as she squatted down to the exceed’s level.

“His name is Frosch.” 

“Well it’s very nice to meet you, Frosch. Um, and I’m sorry for running into you again,” Emi awkwardly ended.

Emi started to walk away when she spotted who she recognized as Wakaba making his way towards her. Emi quickly scurried into an alleyway so that she wouldn’t be seen. _Damn. Laxus really made the whole guild look for me? What a pain._

Emi snuck around Magnolia, slowly inching towards the bakery. When she finally reached the shop, she quickly opened the door and slipped inside. Once inside, Emi took her hood off and walked up to the counter to see all the baked goods that she could choose from. Emi’s mouth started to water at the sight of all the food. She didn’t need to be a dragon slayer to smell the beautiful scents of the different cakes, cookies and pies. Emi stopped when she saw a perfectly cut piece of apple pie.

“Excuse me, can I have a slice of apple pie?”

The baker smiled brightly and handed Emi the slice before asking for payment. Once Emi paid, she exited the shop. She went to turn towards the edge of town again to eat her pie in peace, but she spotted a white tail with a bow tied on it. _That must be Charle, which means Wendy is close by. I have to be careful of her nose._

Emi ended up eating her pie in a dark alleyway while avoiding the others of the guild. 

“There you are!”

_Crap._ Emi slowly looked around, but she didn’t see anyone. She heard them again, and she looked upwards to see Natsu on top of the building behind her.

“Um, Natsu, why are you up there?”

“To look for you of course!” Natsu smiled wide as he jumped down from the building and landed in front of her in the alleyway.

“How did you find me? I thought I covered my scent enough.”

“Oh, I didn’t smell you. I could smell a delicious pie and followed it right to you!”

“Um, Natsu? I don’t really want to go back yet, so can you wait to turn me in for a little while longer?”

Natsu looked unsure as he reasoned, “You know Laxus is really worried about you. I wouldn’t want to be on his bad side.”

Emi sighed before an idea popped into her head. 

“If I share my pie with you, will you pretend you didn’t find me?”

Natsu’s eyes lit up as he immediately sat down next to Emi. He instantly agreed and they started eating the pie together in the alleyway.

\---------------------

“Has anyone been able to locate Emi?” Warren asked through telepathy.

Gajeel’s group (Levy, Jet, Droy, Macao and Reedus) replied that they hadn’t, which was the same response he got from Wendy’s group (Erza, Gray, Cana, Lucy and Wakaba) and Laxus’s group (Evergreen, Bickslow, Freed, Juvia and Mira).

“Has anyone heard from Natsu or Romeo?”

Romeo then spoke up, reporting that Natsu had run off to get something to eat, claiming that he couldn’t effectively look on an empty stomach. 

“That idiot,” Lucy chided, “this is an emergency and all he can think about is food.”

\-----------------------------

“So,” Nastu questioned with his mouth full, “why’d you run off like that?”

“I don’t really know. I guess I just wanted to be alone.”

“You remembered something, right? What was it?”

Emi looked up to the sky and saw that it was getting dark. The stars had started to come out.

“Natsu?” Emi asked, gaining the dragon slayer’s attention, “Do you ever think that the people you miss most are watching you from afar?”

Natsu stated that her statement made no sense to him before Emi elaborated. 

“You miss your dragon, right?” Natsu nodded in response, which let Emi continue by questioning, “Well, what if you forgot about your dragon, but you still missed him? What if you missed someone that you couldn’t remember?”

Natsu put down his fork and turned to Emi, saying, “I would probably be really frustrated and angry. I would never want to forget Igneel, no matter how much pain missing him brings me.”

Emi nodded at Natsu’s answer and explained that she was going through the same emotion that he described. She was mad that she couldn’t remember the people who she assumed were those she held close.

“I couldn’t even remember my parents. The first thing I’m able to remember about them is the memory of watching them die in front of me. And then I got a memory about someone training me and then a memory of someone that made me feel warm.”

“Warm?”

“I don’t really know how to explain it. I felt comfortable and safe. Almost like Laxus, but at the same time it was completely different.”

Emi and Natsu sat in silence for a few moments before Emi got up. She held out her hand for Natsu to use to stand up and she looked at him with a smile.

“Thank you for listening, Natsu. It really helped. I think I’m ready to go back now.”

Natsu gave his signature grin before pulling her down the alleyway.

“We’re getting more pie first!”

\---------------------------

Everyone in the search team returned back to the guildhall. 

Makarov spoke up, “So _nobody_ was able to locate her?”

Everyone shook their heads at the master saying that they had looked everywhere and came up empty. The doors to the hall then opened and revealed Emi and Natsu walking in.

“Found her!”

All of the wizards stood in shock as they watched Natsu and Emi walk into the guild, both holding an entire pie. Laxus was the first one to speak up.

“Where the _hell_ have you been? Do you know how late it is? You could’ve gotten hurt. Someone from a dark guild could’ve--”

“I was just getting some pie. Don’t worry. I made sure to stay in well lit areas where lots of people were for possible witnesses,” Emi easily lied, fully well knowing that she had done the complete opposite the whole night.

Laxus huffed before walking up to her. He grabbed the pie away from her and set it on the nearest table, earning a “hey!” from the woman. The lightning mage then pulled Emi in for a sudden hug, which shocked Emi and the entire guild. Laxus pulled away from the hug and smiled.

“I’m glad you’re okay.”

Emi went to smile back at him when he smacked her in the back of the head.

“Is that what you wanted me to say? You idiot, what would you do if someone cornered you? You can’t even bring yourself to kill a spider when it comes into your bed. You’re reckless and lack any caution.”

Everyone couldn’t help but laugh at the couple. Despite his lecturing, Emi hugged him tightly before facing upwards to look at him and smiled at him. 

“I brought you some apple pie, though. Does that make up for it? It’s really good.”


	20. Joining Fairy Tail

After sleeping it off, Emi had seemed to recover from the incident from yesterday. Laxus and Emi ended up staying in an inn for the night in Magnolia instead of rushing to catch the last train. Emi was getting dressed in the room when Laxus came in from taking a shower in the bathroom. He saw that Emi was looking at her back in the mirror again. On Emi’s back, five scars were present, all resembling whip marks. Emi saw Laxus looking and turned to him.

“This is one thing I _don’t_ want to remember. Seems like it shouldn’t be remembered at all.”

Laxus hummed as he made his way over to his shirt that was on the bed and put it on. 

“Are we going back to Fairy Tail?”

Laxus thought for a moment before deciding to ask her about the offer Makarov made: “About that...the old man said--”

“Good morning, Emi! If you need a place to cook you can come to my place and use my kitchen! I made sure to buy extra fish.”

Laxus looked at Natsu hovering outside the window with the help of Happy and sent a bolt of lightning at the dragon slayer, causing him to crash into the ground. Natsu could be heard shouting at Laxus from the road below them. Emi rushed down to Natsu and checked to make sure he wasn’t too injured. Natsu jumped right up and started to drag her back to his apartment before she planted her feet into the ground. 

“Actually Natsu, I don’t really feel like cooking this morning. I’m still recovering from yesterday,” Emi apologized, trying to hint to the private conversation they had had in the alleyway, “but I would be more than happy to treat you to breakfast from somewhere in Magnolia!”

Natsu grinned and grabbed Happy before dragging her to his favorite restaurant in Magnolia.

“You’ll love this one. It has the best fish.”

“Aye sir!”

Emi turned around and called Laxus to follow them, which the mage reluctantly did.

\----------------------------

“Hey Natsu, do all dragon slayers have a good sense of smell? You were able to detect the pie from across town, and Gajeel could find Wendy when she was behind the bar. Laxus doesn’t use his nose much,” Emi asked, making sure to tease Laxus at the same time.

“Oh yeah! Dragon slayers have heightened senses. We’re able to track scents of all kinds.”

_“I could smell ya, duh.”_

“Do either of you know any other dragon slayers that aren’t in Fairy Tail?”

“Well there’s that Cobra guy from the Oracion Seis, but that’s about all I know.”

Laxus decided to speak up, “Why are you so interested in dragon slayers all of a sudden?”

Emi quickly covered her tracks by explaining, “Well when we went to the library Levy and I found this cool book about dragons and I wanted to know how dragon slayers were. I know a bit from what you’ve told me and I’ve learned more from talking to Fairy Tail and I wanted to know more.”

\-----------------------------

“We’re here!”

Natsu barged through the doors to the guild, loudly announcing his presence. He walked over to Team Natsu and started to convince them that he had the best meal before he arrived. Laxus and Emi made their way over to the bar where Master Makarov was sitting. 

“Master Grampa! It’s very nice to see you this morning.”

“Please child, ‘Gramps’ is fine.”

Makarov looked towards his grandson and gave a questioning look towards him, silently asking if he had asked her yet. Laxus shook his head and mouthed “Natsu” to the master. Makarov rolled his eyes and glared at Natsu’s back as he continued to ramble about his breakfast. Makarov turned to Emi, ready to ask her himself.

“Emi!” Levy rushed over to her. “I found something more about the other demons from the Book of Zeref. I thought you might want to see it.”

Emi left the bar and followed Levy over to a small table in the corner where she had a bunch of books stacked near the wall. Laxus and Makarov both sighed in defeat.

“As you can see,” Laxus grumbled, “it’s been difficult to catch her long enough to ask.”

“Yes, that does seem to be the case.”

Levy quickly pulled out a very old book from the stack and turned to a page, pointing to highlighted sections: “Apparently there are a lot of demons from the Book of Zeref. I found a vague outline of power levels in this journal. The thing is…”

“...It looks like Deliora is at the very bottom,” Emi gloomily finished. “Here I thought that Deliora would be near the top, considering how much damage he had done.”

Emi looked at the outline in the book before her head started to spin. She dropped to the floor suddenly, causing Levy to panic.

“Emi, are you alright?”

_“Do you see what I’m saying, kid? Delorca is at the bottom. She’s the very least of your worries. Only Deliora is below her.”_

_“Why are they so similar?”_

_“They’re related. Kin.”_

_“What about the others? You said there were more demons.”_

_“The Book of Zeref is a very dangerous thing. Monsters of all kinds. I’ll go over the others quickly.”_

_“Right!”_

_“You have Deliora at the bottom, followed by his sister Delorca. That’s the one that attacked your village. Then you have the Four Beast Elements. They are fairly weak alone, but very dangerous if they’re all together. After that you have Assassin.”_

_“Who’s that?”_

_“He’s a demon that lurks in the shadows and possesses you. He can make your body do almost anything.”_

_“He sounds scary. I don’t like him.”_

_“Next is the Blue Demon. And after that is the Sins.”_

_“The Sins?”_

_“Wrath, Greed, Envy, Sloth, Lust, Pride and Gluttony. They are all very powerful demons on their own, but they are nearly unstoppable when together.”_

_Emi started whimpering. She held onto the man, but her small figure only reached up to his waist._

_“I don’t want to see them ever!”_

_“Hopefully there never comes a time where you would have to. Let’s put it this way - the Sins make destroying Acnologia look like someone defeating Deliora. They are that powerful.”_

“Emi!”

Emi stopped shaking and looked back up to Levy. She sat up and took Levy’s hand to help her up.

“Sorry about that, but I think I understand the power structure now.”

“Are you sure? I didn’t even get to explain it to you very much before you collapsed.”

“A memory came back, and it explained it there. It seems like there’s a lot more to the Book of Zeref than we thought.”

\------------------------------

“How often does this happen to her, Laxus?”

“It’s been more frequent lately, but bits and pieces will resurface at random times.”

“It does not seem to be random at all,” Erza joined in, “In fact, it rather seems that certain things trigger the memories. This is taking this last one into consideration. Why else would she remember something like that right after they began to talk about it?”

Laxus got up from the bar and strolled to where Emi and Levy were seated. He whispered something to Emi and they both returned to the bar. Emi looked at the master expectantly.

“Yes child?”

“Laxus said that you have something to talk to me about.”

Makarov looked towards Laxus who smirked and walked away. Makarov rolled his eyes at his grandson’s retreating figure. _Guess it’s me who’s asking. Honestly, what a pain._

“Look, child. I have an offer for you.”

Emi nodded to show that she was listening. The master took in a deep breath before continuing, smirking at Laxus.

“I think that you and Laxus should get married.”

Everyone in the guildhall exclaimed, _“WHAT?!”_

Laxus spit out the drink that he was holding. Emi’s face turned a bright crimson. They both made eye contact with each other before looking in opposite directions. Laxus’s face started to turn red as well.

“Um, Master Grampa, that is very kind of you, but, well the thing is,” Emi started.

“We’re absolutely not getting married,” Laxus spoke sternly once he recovered.

Mira looked at Laxus in disappointment: “Laxus, you can’t expect her to wait forever you know.”

“What?” Emi and Laxus questioned her at the same time.

Everyone sweatdropped at the couple before Makarov started laughing.

“Relax kids. I was just kidding. It was very entertaining watching your reactions though.”

“Stop fooling around old man!”

“Right,” Makarov coughed into his hand to regain his serious composure, “I want you, Emi, to be a part of our family. It might not be through marrying Laxus, but I would love it if you joined Fairy Tail.”

Emi looked at the master in confusion. “But I’m not a wizard.”

Natsu was the next one to speak up, commenting, “So? You don’t have to be a wizard to have a family, right?”

Emi looked shocked before she started to tear up. Everyone started to panic at the sight of Emi crying. 

“Family? You really mean it?”

“Of course child. Everyone in Fairy Tail is a part of one big family. And we would love it if you joined our rather rambunctious group.”

Emi turned to Laxus, asking, “Wait, does that mean that you’re--”

“Well I mean if you join then I guess I just have to join back as well. Can’t break a promise, right?”

All the tears that were being built up came rushing in at once. She had to sit down to calm herself. She was finally going to be part of a family. For three years, she didn’t know who she was, and for a year she was completely alone. It was only when she began to speak with Laxus that she felt like she belonged somewhere. She considered her and Laxus a kind of family, but to hear that all of Fairy Tail would be her family pushed her happiness to a point past what she could ever dream. 

Suddenly, her happiness turned to immense pain and she ended up passing out due to the sudden nausea. 

_“It’s small, but it’s perfect for a family. You'll love it.”_

_“No.”_

_“Come on, Em. Don’t be so serious all the time.”_

_It was that guy again. The teen she was cloud watching with. They were currently arguing about something. It seemed that they were a younger version of themselves compared to last time. Emi held a cold expression on her face as she pulled up her hood on her cloak._

_“I guess I’ll just have to convince you then,” the unknown teen stated, grinning at the challenge._

“I’m fine. Sorry.”

“Are you sure? You fainted.”

“Yeah. It was probably something that I ate. No biggie.”

Makarov, after Emi convinced him and everyone else that she was okay, guided the woman and Laxus over to Mira, who held the Fairy Tail crest stamp in her hands. 

“Do you want yours the same place and color as before, Laxus?”

Laxus grunted in agreement.

“What about you, Emi? What color do you want and where do you want it?”

Emi thought for a minute before she said that she wanted a white crest on his left shoulder. Both stamps were placed on their respective person. Emi beamed and wouldn’t stop poking her new crest. Laxus looked at her and watched as she continued to play with her shoulder. 

“So?”

“You have to promise me one thing, Laxus.”

“Hm?”

“I’m not allowing you to leave Fairy Tail ever again!” Emi exclaimed while pointing a finger at him.

Everyone in the guild started laughing, which caused Emi to start giggling. She walked over to the corner of books and started researching the demons more. She was overly happy, but also distracted by her latest memory. _What family did I have? And why was I acting so cold?_


	21. Filler

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! I figured I would post a short chapter (actually it's more of a filler) so that something would be posted. I'm planning on posting another chapter that I'm working on later today. Enjoy!

“Master Grampa? Are you having the Fantasia Parade this year?”

“Of course, child. What would make you ask that?”

“Well Laxus and I have been going to the parade for two years and I just wanted to make sure that it’s still happening. I absolutely love watching.”

Makarov looked at the woman surprised, asking, “You’ve been coming to the parade?”

“Yes.”

“With Laxus?”

Emi nodded.

“You’re telling me...that MY OWN GRANDSON HAS BEEN VISITING MAGNOLIA FOR TWO YEARS AND DIDN’T EVEN STOP BY TO SAY HI?”

Laxus decided to speak up from the second level, defending, “I was banished, old man, remember?”

“Even so,” Emi commented, “Laxus would bring me to the Fantasia Parade and show me all the wizards in Fairy Tail. We would always be wearing cloaks, so it’s not really shocking that you didn’t see him.”

Emi then turned her attention to the lightning mage. 

“How come you’re up there?”

Erza decided to explain, “The second floor is for S-class wizards.”

“So that means people who aren’t S-class can’t go up there?”

Erza nodded, which caused Emi to turn upwards at the balcony and point a finger up at Laxus.

“Come down here!”

Laxus opened one eye and looked down at her, asking, “Why would I do that?”

“Because I can’t come up there and I want to sit with you.”

“Forget it, Emi,” Wakaba started, “Laxus always stays up there. He only comes down to leave for jobs.”

Everyone in Fairy Tail was taken back when they saw Laxus standing behind Emi. He walked over to an empty table and patted the seat next to him, which Emi happily took after responding to Wakaba.

“What do you mean, Mister Wakaba? He came down no problem!”

\---------------------------

Laxus and Emi were walking back to the inn when Emi started to ask questions.

“So what are we going to do about the house? We can’t keep travelling between Hargeon and Magnolia. I don’t think your stomach could take it.”

“You think you’re funny, huh?”

“Hilarious. Now what did you do originally?”

“I lived in an apartment like everyone else.”

“Well then we better get searching! We have two apartments to find!”

“Two?”

“Well yeah, silly. One for you and one for me. Two!” Emi said, using her fingers to display the math.

“Why are we bothering to pay for separate apartments when we both know you’ll somehow always be at mine?” Laxus playfully countered.


	22. Grand Magic Games

“The Grand Magic Games? Isn’t that in Crocus?”

Energy was buzzing through the guildhall. Makarov had mentioned participating in the Grand Magic Games, something that they hadn’t done for the past couple years. They were looked down on as Fiore’s weakest guild because of it, and Fairy Tail was sick of being in last place. Once the master heard about the prize money, he was gathering the wizards to decide who will be participating. 

“The team will be: Natsu, Wendy, Lucy, Erza and Gray.”

Wendy expressed her concerns with being chosen, not thinking that she was strong enough. She was convinced to still participate for the pride of belonging to her guild. Natsu was full of energy and enthusiasm, saying that there was no way they would lose. 

Everyone was packing up to leave for Crocus when the master stopped a few members from leaving. He coughed to gain their attention. 

“Juvia, Mira, Gajeel and Laxus, you will be participating as well as Team B for Fairy Tail.”

“Hey Gramps, don’t you think it’s a little insulting to be on Team _B_?” Laxus asked.

Makarov then bribed them by introducing a reward for whichever team won, saying that the winning team could make the losing team do anything they want for an entire day. They all agreed shortly after when Emi hesitantly spoke up.

“Um, Master Grampa, I think you’re a member short.”

Just then, a cloaked man with magical staff walked into the guildhall. Everyone eyed him suspiciously.

“Emi, this is Mystogan. He’s also an S-class wizard. He’ll be joining the B Team.”

Everyone present knew that it wasn’t actually the Mystogan that they knew, as they were aware of the events surrounding Edolas. Emi was, however, unaware of the history of the guild and remembered reading about a powerful wizard named Mystogan in a book somewhere.

“Oh wow! It’s so nice to meet you, Mystogan. I read about you once before. I think your magic is really powerful. I can’t wait to see you in the games!”

\---------------------------

“Laxus! Look at all the flowers!”

Laxus hummed, knowing that the city was the “flower capital” and that Emi would be mesmerized upon arriving. She made her way through the street, stopping at multiple flower carts as they walked to the inn that Team B would be staying. Emi had sparkles in her eyes as she smelt all the flowers.

“I really wish I was a dragon slayer so I could smell them all better!”

“We better get back to the inn. We have to be there by midnight.”

Emi pouted, knowing that it was already ten o’clock and they had to unpack all their things. They followed the map that led to their assigned inn and started to unpack. Emi asked Laxus if he knew why they had a midnight curfew, but the mage had no idea. Soon, midnight struck, and the first challenge was announced - the competing teams needed to find their way through a floating maze, and only the top eight teams would qualify to participate in the main Grand Magic Game. Emi looked at the floating structure, admiring the amount of time it must’ve taken to construct. She gave Team B a big thumbs up and wished them luck before they entered the maze.

Emi sat on the bed and started to listen to music through Laxus’s headphones. She eventually fell asleep sitting up, causing her body to fall over and onto the sheets.

_“What’s this?”_

_The unknown teenager was back again. He was holding a plate with a little cover on it so she couldn’t see what was under it. He set it on the table in front of her and dramatically unveiled an apple pie._

_“I made it myself. Pretty cool right?”_

_Emi sniffed the pie before looking at the teenager, commenting, “Kira helped you. I can smell the cinnamon that she always adds.”_

_The teen’s head hung low, but his smile didn’t falter. He explained that she had simply advised him and read the directions._

_“Well are you going to eat any? I worked all day to make the perfect one. Kira kept telling me to start over, so I ended up making about eight pies.”_

_Emi got up and picked up a fork before returning to her seat. She eyed the pie suspiciously before eventually taking a little bite. She started crying once she tasted it. The unknown man started panicking, frantically asking if it was really that bad. He offered to make another pie and throw this one out as soon as possible._

_“It’s not that it’s bad. It just tastes like the one that my mom used to make.”_

_The teen sighed in relief before strutting over to Emi, pride radiating off his figure._

_“So what you’re saying,” he proudly stated, “is that I’m the best cook in Crocus!”_

Emi woke up, seeing that she was crying. She sat up and quietly got out of bed and made her way to the small balcony that sat outside her door. She took in the night sky and cool breeze as she looked up at the stars. _Have I already visited Crocus? Why wouldn’t I remember such a beautiful place?_

Emi laughed bitterly. _That’s rich coming from the same person who can’t remember her parents._ Emi’s mind wandered to Fairy Tail, and she started wondering if either team had qualified. 

“What am I thinking? Lucy obviously got Team A to qualify. I’m certain that Laxus’s Team B qualified, too. There’s no way anyone in that group would lose.”

Emi looked back at the bed, soon realizing how tired she still was. _Well, might as well sleep while I wait._ She tucked herself under the covers and snuggled into her pillow.

_Emi and Cain were traveling through a nearby town, Emi happily skipping in front of the man._

_“Hey kid, don’t wander too far. It might be dangerous. And stop putting down your hood. You’re supposed to use the cloak to hide yourself.”_

_The small child looked at the man and smiled, replying, “Why do we have to wear our cloaks every time we go to a new town, Mister Cain.”_

_“I can afford to be recognized. Things wouldn’t end well for neither the town or me.”_

_“Don’t worry! You’re the strongest person I know! You can totally take them,” Emi enthusiastically countered, putting her fist in the air to emphasize._

Emi stirred in her sleep before turning over.

_“Emi! There you are. How did your last job go? I heard the client was a wicked perv.”_

_Emi looked over to see a girl with red eyes and purple hair pulled back with a white and gold bow. Emi smiled at the woman, rolling her eyes._

_“Kira, I think we should both be pretty sure Mr. Territorial exaggerated what actually happened. The client was just being friendly.”_

_The woman who was named as Kira looked towards Emi with a sly look before whispering, “Well it is mating season.”_

_Emi’s face turned as red as fire. Kira gave Emi a huge smirk before laughing at her friend’s flustered reaction. She grabbed Emi’s hand and dragged her back to an apartment. By the looks of it, Kira and Emi shared the apartment, as there were books scattered everywhere and Emi’s favorite fairy tale book lay on the kitchen table._

_“Spill it, Shorty. How bad was he?”_

_“I mean, he threatened the guy and then went to hurt him, but we left.”_

_“Man, dragon slayers are so complicated. How do you deal with him?”_

_Emi laughed before brushing off her comment, saying that it wasn’t that bad._

Emi started to smile in her sleep, happy with the memory. She grabbed her pillow tighter in her sleep. She felt a weight on the bed next to her, bringing her back from a light sleep. She turned around and saw Laxus sitting on the bed and taking off his shoes.

“Did I wake you?”

Emi shook her head before telling him that she had remembered something when she was dreaming. When Laxus asked her what she remembered, Emi energetically spoke of the different friends that she had.

“And it seems like I was living with one of them and I took these jobs like I do now and then I remembered something from when I was a kid. Cain and I were traveling when I was really young. And…”

Emi realized that she couldn’t really share her other memory without feeling embarrassed.

_“Well it is mating season.”_

At the thought of her memory, Emi’s face became the color of Erza’s hair. She definitely couldn’t share that. 

“You okay? You’re getting really red.”

“Oh yes. I’m completely fine! I was just thinking about a weird book I read on mating season for dragons.”

_Crap. Why the hell would I bring attention to it anyway?_

“Oh okay.”

 _Wait what? He’s not even going to ask? He’s not embarrassed at all?_ With that, Emi and Laxus got comfortable in bed and fell asleep. Emi didn’t have any more memories, which kind of disappointed her, as she wanted to learn more about her friends.


	23. Found You!

After Gray and Juvia lost in the first competition and Lucy lost to Flare in the battle portion, morale was low in the Fairy Tail inn.

“No matter what happens, I will always believe in each one of you,” Master Makarov declared.

“Man those Raven Tail people suck! I’m gonna make them pay for doing that to Lucy and Asuka.”

“We just have to keep pushing forward,” Erza commented.

Emi was the next one to speak up, getting up from her seat next to Laxus: “I believe in all of you as well. I know that Fairy Tail will win!”

Everyone smiled at the enthusiasm radiating off the woman, slowly coming out of their funk. The members decided to take a walk around Crocus, all going in separate directions with groups. Laxus and Emi traveled as a couple. Erza also went off by herself to speak to Jellal in private. Wendy remained in the infirmary from having all her magic drained from her. The rest of Fairy Tail walked around in groups.

“What you said seemed to cheer everyone up pretty well.”

“You think so? I’m glad.”

Laxus and Emi continued down the main road to explore the different flower carts.

\-------------------------------------

Sabertoth’s inn was tense. They had won first place in the competition, but everyone was still on edge from Master Jiemma. There was no time for celebration in Sabertooth; perfection and victory were a _requirement_ and therefore did not deserve a celebration. Rogue and Sting sat in a corner with Lector and Frosch, talking about how Sabertooth will obviously win. Suddenly, Sting stopped talking.

Rogue decided to question the dragon slayer, obviously shocked that the rather talkative guy would suddenly grow quiet. Lector jumped onto the table so that he and Sting were face to face.

“Sting, are you okay?”

“Lector…”

“What is it, Sting? What’s wrong?”

“I smell her.”

Rogue looked at Sting with a confused look. 

“Are you talking about the same person you questioned me about when I came back from that mission?”

Sting suddenly stood up and ran out the door, Lector immediately flying after him. Rogue looked at Frosch before calmly standing up from his seat. 

“We should probably go follow them before they get into trouble.”

“Fro thinks so, too!”

\---------------------------------

“Laxus, look at all these flowers! I love this town.”

Laxus hummed in response before spotting an ice cream stand. Emi followed his gaze and grabbed his hand, dragging him to get some ice cream before they continued to explore. They ran into Romeo and Macao on the way and they all decided to travel together, Emi sharing whatever she learned in the newest book she read.

\----------------------------------

“Dammit! Where the hell is she?”

“Sting!” Lector yelled as he finally caught up. “Do you really think it’s her?”

“I haven’t caught her scent for years, but I know that smell no matter how long it’s been. I smelt it on Rogue a week ago, but this is the real deal. I can tell that she’s here, Lector. It’s not someone who bumped into her this time. The only problem is…”

“What is it, Sting?”

“I can smell her literally everywhere in the city. Every direction smells like her, which means that she’s traveling with people.”

“You can definitely track her down, Sting! You’re the most powerful dragon slayer there is, so nobody can stop your nose!”

“Let’s start over there.”

“Right! We’re going to finally see her again!”

\--------------------------------

Bickslow and Freed followed Evergreen around the city. They spotted the royal palace and saw the infamous flower gardens. 

“Emi would love this, wouldn’t you agree?”

“Definitely. She’d probably drag Laxus here in a heartbeat,” Bickslow responded, his babies chanting ‘heartbeat, heartbeat.’

In another part of Crocus, Juvia, Gray, Lucy and Natsu explored the shops scattered around town. They crossed paths with Rogue, who looked around quickly before going to head down an alleyway.

“Hey you!” Natsu yelled. “You’re that guy from Sabertooth. The one that killed your dragon!”

Rogue looked at Natsu and replied with a quick “excuse me” before disappearing in the shadows.

“Where could that idiot have gone? He needs to learn not to run off like that.”

\-----------------------------------

Cana went straight for the local bar, saying that it is rumored to be the best in Fiore in terms of booze quality. Wakaba decided to join her, saying she might need someone to walk her back to the inn.

Levy, Jet and Droy decided to go to the bookshop near the center of town. Well, Levy decided and the others followed. At the shop, Levy found multiple books that she wanted to read. However, as she was checking out she saw a book that stood out to her. _‘Dragons and Disaster: A History of Dragons and Dragon Slayers?’ It sounds like something Emi might want to read._  
Levy quickly grabbed the book and added it to her order before asking Jet and Droy to help her carry the books back to the inn. 

\--------------------------------

Sting ran as fast as he could to the different parts of Crocus. He jumped on top of the buildings so he could get a better vantage point for both sight and smell. He wouldn’t have to compete with the crowds as much from the roof of the building, and he would be able to look at the crowds more effectively. Sting stopped running once he got to one of the sources of her scent, the gardens.

_Of course. I should’ve guessed. This is definitely her._

“Found her.”

“Way to go Sting! In the first try! You’re the most powerful wizard ever!” Lector gushed. 

Sting jumped down from the building and started running through the gardens before her scent became further away, signally that she was no longer in the gardens.

“Dammit.”

Sting’s nose picked up on another potential source and he ran after it. It led him to the city’s bookshop. _Yes. Definitely here. I’m sure of it._

“A bookshop?” Lector questioned before his eyes lit up in excitement. “Of course! She loves books. Your nose is super great Sting!”

He looked around the building before entering the shop. When he couldn’t find her, he went over to the counter and asked the person if she had seen someone matching the woman’s description.

“I’m sorry, sir, but nobody matching her description came in today.”

Sting let out a groan before exiting the shop. Just as he was starting to run to the next location, a shadow appeared below him and grabbed his ankle, causing Sting to fall face first on the roof.

“What the hell, Rogue?! Let me go! This is important.”

Rogue looked at his partner in confusion. He had never seen the wizard get so worked up. That is, until he said that he had somehow come into contact with the woman in question when Sting smelled her scent on him. 

“Calm down.”

“No! _Let me go_ , Rogue.”

\----------------------------------------

“Crocus sure is a wonderful city, don’t you think?” Emi asked as she turned to Laxus.

He nodded before continuing to walk. They had all decided on a curfew to meet back up at the inn in order to make sure everyone got back safely. Macao, Romeo, Laxus and Emi finally arrived at the inn and found that the others had already arrived. 

“I hope we aren’t late, Master Grampa. Someone got distracted by ice cream.”

\-------------------------------------

“I will help you look if it is so important to you, but you need to calm down.”

“Rogue, let Sting go!” Lector pleaded. “We need his nose to find her.”

Sting then grabbed Rogue by the collar, a serious look in his eyes that Rogue had never seen before. He sighed before letting go of the collar and crossing his arms. 

“Fine. I’m calm. Now let me go before I lose her scent.”

The shadows that had been restraining him had recoiled, allowing Sting to move freely again. The two dragon slayers and their exceeds walked as fast as they could as Sting tracked the scent. 

“Why exactly are you preventing me from running?”

“Because,” Rogue explained calmly, “I know that you’d just run off if I let go of you.”

Rogue pointed to the shadow that had a hold of Sting’s collar, “This should stop you from going too far.”

“What am I? A dog?”

“Fro thinks so, too!”

\-------------------------------------

“Man, it’s been a long day,” Lucy stated as she came back to the inn from her shower.

“Tell me about it,” Gray agreed. 

“Lu, I got a bunch of books that we can read.”

“Levy, that’s awesome. Leave it to you.”

“Oh Emi, I bought you a book too! It’s on dragons and dragon slayers.”

“Really? Oh my goodness, that’s perfect! Thank you so much, Levy.”

\------------------------------------

The two dragon slayers made their way through the city when Sting noticed that all the different sources of scents came together and were all gathered in one place. He deducted that they were all returning to a base point. He turned to Rogue, sharing what he thought.

“She has to be there then,” Rogue spoke up, supporting Sting’s idea.

Lector spoke up, yelling, “Let’s go!”

The group finally found the source, and screamed when they found the inn that she was staying at. 

_“Fairy Tail?!”_

Rogue groaned, saying that he wasn’t in the mood to deal with Natsu yelling at him again. Sting’s eyes turned dark as he let out a low growl. Rogue turned to Sting and looked at him questioningly.

“Sting, maybe we shouldn’t--”

Before Rogue could finish his sentence, Sting had aggressively kicked down the door to the inn. All of the Fairy Tail wizards got into a fighting position; the only person that would do that, Natsu, was already present, so they were on guard.

“WHERE IS SHE?!”

Natsu was the first person to step forward, face holding anger.

“I don’t know who you’re talking about buddy, but you should leave before I get a hold of you and your partner here. You both think that because you’re a part of Sabertooth that you’re all that. I could never forgive someone who could kill their own parents. Out!” Natsu made a “shoo” noise and waved his hands to push them out.

“Where. Is. She?” Sting snarled, completely ignoring everything Natsu had said.

“Child,” Makarov addressed Natsu, “let’s see what he wants first before you pick a fight.”

“But Gramps!”

“I do not agree with Sabertooth’s ideology either, but we should hear him out before we come to any conclusions.”

“Fine. What do you want, asshole?”

“Natsu, Master Grampa?” Emi spoke up as she entered the room with Laxus. “What’s going on?”

Sting and Lector stood in shock before Lector started flying towards Emi at top speed, yelling, “Lady Emiko! We finally found you!”

Lector started crying as he shoved himself into her arms, earning a confused “huh?” from the woman. 

“Um, I’m sorry, who are you?”

Lector whipped his head up to look at her before flying out of her arms and hovering in front of her.

“I’m Lector of course, remember?” The exceed’s face fell as he saw the blank look in her eyes.

Sting stood there with a shocked look on his face, taking in the sight of her before he walked towards her, not hearing Lector’s conversation with her. He held a soft look on his face and he smiled wide at the woman.

“I finally found you. Thank god.”

Sting went to hug Emi, but she backed away from the dragon slayer and moved back to Laxus’s side. Sting’s face dropped as he looked at the confusion and fear in her eyes. Something clicked in his head, causing his heart to drop.

“Do you not know who I am?”

“You’re Sting, right? From Sabertooth?”

“Yeah. Do you know anything else?”

“I’m sorry, I don’t. Am I supposed to?”

Lector flew back over to Sting before landing on his head, whispering, “Why doesn’t she remember? How could she forget us, Sting?”

Sting went to step closer to Emi, but Laxus moved so he stood in front of her. He had his arms crossed as he stared at Sting with an unknown look in his eye. Sting started to aggressively walk towards Laxus when Rogue held him back. 

“Enough. Don’t cause trouble. Master will kill us.”

Sting continued to glare at the lightning mage, causing a dark and tense atmosphere to roll into the inn. Laxus and Sting gave each other a threatening look as they stood apart. 

“Laxus?”

The mage turned to Emi who had a concerned look in her eyes. He raised an eyebrow at her, which caused her to continue.

“I don’t want to be here anymore. It’s making me nervous. I’m going back to the room.”

Emi slowly moved away from the two wizards and asked Levy to come with her. 

“What did you do to her?!” Sting yelled.

Laxus looked at him, clearly bored, replying, “I didn’t _do_ anything. It’s not my fault she doesn’t remember. Where have you been for three years, huh? If she’s so precious to you, why haven’t you come to her before?”

Sting became even more irritated as he snarled, “I’ve been looking for her for three years and I looked everywhere I could think of and came up empty. I finally came to find her and she’s been here at _Fairy Tail_ the whole time?” Sting yelled the last part. 

“Actually,” Erza interjected, “Emi has only been a part of Fairy Tail for a very short time. She’s been with Laxus for two years in Hargeon.”

The look on Sting’s face only darkened as he looked at Laxus. Pure hatred filled his eyes.

_“You!”_

Sting went to lunge at the lightning dragon slayer when Rogue’s grip on his collar tightened.

“Don’t cause trouble, Sting. We don’t want the Master to get involved.”

“Laxus!” Levy yelled as she ran into the room. “Something’s wrong with Emi. She just collapsed and started screaming.”

The anger in Sting’s eyes immediately disappeared and was filled with concern. Laxus went to move to Emi’s location when Sting stopped him.

“Let me help.”

“Get lost,” Laxus grunted as he left the inn’s main room.

“She’s in danger you know,” Sting suddenly revealed.

Laxus stopped in his tracks before turning towards the Sabertooth member.

“You’re a dragon slayer, right?”

Sting looked at him in confusion and Lector responded with, “Sting is the strongest dragon slayer there is!”

Laxus ignored the exceed and continued, “How old are you?”

“Twenty-two. Why?”

Laxus grunted before giving the dragon slayer a quick “follow me” before disappearing into the sleeping quarters of the inn. Sting ran right behind the lightning mage with Lector flying soon after.

“What was that all about?” Levy questioned out loud.

“Beats me,” Gray replied, “but I can tell that those two are gonna have problems down the line.”

“Did you see the way they were looking at each other? It was super scary,” Cana commented.

“They’re love rivals. Juvia can tell.”


	24. A What?

Levy, Lector and the two dragon slayers rushed to the bedroom where Emi was. They opened the door to find Emi grabbing her head and shaking. Upon closer inspection, they could see that her ears were bleeding.

“Em, come on,” Laxus tried as he sat next to her and shook her.

“That won’t help, ya know,” Sting spoke up.

Levy looked at the Sabertooth wizard with a confused look before he continued, “She’s probably remembering something. You just gotta let it happen.”

They all stared at the woman as she continued to shake.

_“Emi, stay back!”_

_“Cain! Get away from there!”_

_“You gotta run, kid. I’ll hold them off as long as I can.”_

_“But you said that they were too strong when they’re all together. You said that they were higher than--”_

_“GO!”_

_A giant laser was aimed towards Emi, who was a teenager then. The laser was blocked by Cain, who sliced through it with his sword. He was met with a giant snake lunging towards him. He jumped on top of it and decapitated it. Cain protectively stood in front of Emi and looked back at her._

_“Go. You have to live. I can’t hold them off forever.”_

_“But you’ll--”_

_“Everyone dies at some point, kid. I’ll be happy knowing that I did one good thing in life before I went.”_

_Emi started crying hard as she lifted her hood on and hugged Cain one last time._

_“I’ll be in your heart, kay?”_

_Emi sniffled before she started running as fast as she could. She looked behind her and saw that the whole group was aiming attacks at the man. He looked back at her and smiled before jumping into the magic. As Emi went further away, she couldn’t see what was happening anymore, but she heard a gigantic explosion and then everything went silent. She brushed her tears away and ran to the closest train._

“Lady Emiko! You have to wake up!”

Emi took in a sharp breath before she stopped shaking and looked up at the small group that had gathered around her. She looked at Sting and Lector confused, wondering why they were there, before turning to Levy and Laxus to assure them that she was fine. She stood up thanks to Levy and dusted herself off from the dust that was on the floor. She touched her ears and saw blood on her fingers as she pulled away.

“Well that’s new,” Emi commented. 

“What did you remember?” Levi asked.

“That guy, Cain, I think he died.”

“He did.”

Everyone looked towards Sting as he spoke, “He did die. You told me. He died protecting you from the Sins.”

Emi looked at the man in shock, asking, “How do you know that? How do you know it was the Sins?”

“I said it already. You told me. The Sins, demons from the Book of Zeref, were hunting Cain and targeted you when they found you were traveling with him.”

“Why would they be after Cain?”

“You never said. You didn’t really like talking about your past.”

“My past?”

“Since before you were seventeen.”

“What--”

“Sting and I knew you since you were seventeen, Lady Emiko. That’s what we’ve been trying to tell you.”

“I’m sorry. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Emi made her way back to where Fairy Tail was hanging out and sat down on a chair next to Gray and Natsu.

“What’s with that guy anyway, Emi?”

“I...don’t know.”

“Lady Emiko!”

They all looked to see that the maroon exceed had flown towards the center of the room, followed by Sting. 

“I can prove it!” Lector shouted, earning a confused look from everyone in the room, including Sting.

Lector continued, “You love flowers and the gardens, your favorite food is apples, you’re always reading a book, you’re fascinated with magic of all kinds, and you love frogs.”

Sting looked at Lector and blinked a few times before catching on and grinning, joining in.

“You put hot sauce on everything and you don’t even realize it. You love the color yellow, but not the pure yellow because it reminds you of bananas and you hate bananas. You hum in your sleep and you sleep with three pillows.”

Lector looked at Sting and put a thumbs up before continuing, “You love fairy tales and even carry around a book of them, and you love watching the clouds.”

Emi looked between the two of them, taking in all the information. 

“Um, I don’t really know how you know all that stuff but--”

Sensing that it was beginning to work, Sting pulled out the “big guns.” He pointed a finger to her and stated, “You have five scars on your back and you have a small scar on your inner left thigh.”

Emi’s face turned completely red before looking at him, demanding, “How on earth could you know that? I get the back scars, but nobody knows about the other one.”

“I know,” Sting grinned as he pointed to himself, “because I put it there.”

Everyone except for Laxus looked at him in pure confusion. 

“So,” Laxus started, “you’re the real deal, huh?”

“Of course I am, fairy. That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you!”

“Sting…” Rogue was the next one to speak up.

“Shut it, Rogue.”

“Juvia doesn’t know what’s going on.”

“Me neither!” Natsu yelled. “But can we get these guys out of here? I don’t want them in Fairy Tail anymore. They’re confusing Emi.”

“Natsu, are you an idiot or do you actually not know?” Laxus spoke up.

“Now you’re starting to confuse me! Everyone stop and let me eat!”

“Natsu,” Rogue started calmly, “I think that this is important.”

“Salamander, I hate to admit it but I have no idea what’s going on either.”

Rogue looked at the iron dragon slayer before letting out, “...Gajeel.”

“Would you all please elaborate for the rest of us?” Gray asked, slightly annoyed.

Laxus began, “Em is--”

“She’s my mate, dumbass. How can you not tell?”

Everyone’s eyes grew super wide, causing Rogue, Laxus and Sting to sweatdrop.

Rogue looked at all of them, muttering, “They really…”

“...didn’t know?” Sting finished.

“Wait!” Natsu shouted, before getting quiet once again, going to the three informed dragon slayers and whispering, “What’s a mate?”

“A mate,” Rogue started to explain, “is a term used for the one that a dragon chooses to spend the rest of their life with. They become dedicated to their mate’s safety and protect them from any danger. Since us dragon slayers share the same instinct, it is only natural that we would also engage in finding a mate. I am just surprised that I was not made aware of this sooner.”

“But if she agreed to do that then why is she dating Laxus?” Evergreen asked.

_“WHAT?!”_ Laxus, Emi and Sting all shouted.

Sting gave Laxus a look that could easily kill him. 

“Did you really think that we were dating this whole time?” Emi asked through her embarrassment.

“Well, yeah,” Mira answered. 

“Why the hell would you ever think that?” Laxus asked while keeping an eye for any malicious movement by the pissed Sabertooth wizard.

Erza defended everyone, “You live together, you hug each other, you tease each other, you sleep in the same bed, and you protect each other. What else could that be but dating?”

“I mean,” Emi started, “I don’t really know about all that, but don’t you all do that with each other? You go on requests together, eat together, spend all your time together, protect each other and fight with each other. Isn’t that what friends do? So why would you think that we were more than that?”

Makarov spoke up, “Well it seems that my children might have jumped to conclusions.”

“What are you talking about Gramps? You were the one who suggested that they get married! You said that she was the reason Laxus changed!” Natsu shouted.

“Jesus you are all idiots. Gajeel, Natsu, Wendy, do you feel different around Em?” Laxus asked.

They all looked at each other before looking back to Laxus and asking what he meant. 

“He means,” Rogue elaborated, “do you feel a pull towards her that makes you feel like you need to protect her? Almost like a sibling effect.”

“Oh!” They all nodded and asked again what that meant.

“It’s an effect of dragon mating,” Sting explained after finally recovering. “Once a dragon chooses their mate, the mate gives off a distinct smell to signal to other dragons that they are taken and that others can’t mate with them. This smell taps into the dragon’s protective instinct and the other dragons help watch over the mate.”

Laxus then looked at Natsu, continuing, “That’s why you always wanted to visit. You thought it was because of the food, but it was to protect Emi from danger once you heard that that dark guild was after us.”

“Then how did you end up becoming so attached to each other?” Levy asked.

“I found her when I saw that a group from a dark guild was targeting her. I stepped in thinking it was just me helping when I caught her scent and realized that she had been mated with someone. When she told me she had no memories past the last year she had been wandering, I told her that I would stay with her until she didn’t need me anymore.”

Emi was silent the entire time before Lector prompted her, “So Lady Emiko, are you ready to come home with us? We missed you so much!”

“Um, that’s great and all, and I’m really happy for you that you found me, but I still don’t remember you.”

After quietly saying this, she inched closer to Laxus.

“What? You’re not going to come back with us?”

“I’m sorry. This is...a lot to take in. I just need to think.”

Emi made her way past her guildmates and returned to her room. 

“Just give her time. She’s been remembering something new everyday now. It won’t be long.”

Sting looked to Laxus before groaning and mumbling, “I’ve already been waiting three years.”

He grabbed Rogue by his collar and dragged him out of the inn, Frosch and Lector close behind. Everyone stood in silence for a moment before Laxus turned and headed towards the sleeping quarters saying that he was going to check on her. Natsu spoke up, complaining.

“Well I still don’t understand! All I know is that we’re going to beat Sabertooth and win the Magic Games!”

Everyone rolled their eyes and eventually started to talk to each other again.


	25. Frustrations

“Sting what the hell?”

Sting was pacing in his room. He had been pacing for two hours once they arrived back at the inn and refused to talk at all. Lector sat in a corner of the room holding his paws together. The blond dragon slayer looked up at Rogue quickly before putting his head down again and continuing to pace. Suddenly, Sting stopped pacing, pulled his hair and groaned before mumbling something incoherent. 

“Sting you’re going to have to talk at some point.”

“For three years I’ve been looking for her everywhere. _Three years._ I would make us take jobs in towns all over the place to look for her. Now they tell me she’s been in _Hargeon_ the entire time? We’ve been there so many times. I’ve looked there so many times and I couldn’t smell her at all!”

Rogue looks at his partner and sighed. Sting continued to rant. 

“And now she’s with _Fairy Tail_ of all things. How the hell am I supposed to take her away from them? You saw them; there was no way they’d let her leave.”

“I believe,” Rogue calmly explained, “that it’s because Fairy Tail is a guild that’s quite different from ours. They see each other as family, and they probably feel like they definitely can’t abandon their family, especially to someone that they disapprove of.”

“How am I supposed to help her remember if they won’t let me near her!”

“You’ll find a way. I know it because you are a stubborn man and don’t know how to stop even if you wanted to. Now,” Rogue looked at him, “ _why_ exactly have you never told me that you mated with someone?”

“I was going to tell you when I found her.”

“You’ve been acting strange since we joined Sabertooth. Now I know why. You’ve been looking this entire time.”

“Why couldn’t I smell her?” Sting let out a loud groan in frustration. “I was able to smell her clearly today and when you came back from that job, so why couldn’t I smell her for the past three years? Ugh! This is way too frustrating.”

Rogue felt pity for the other dragon slayer; he knew how strong a dragon’s bond is with their mate, and he knew that it was killing Sting inside to finally find her just to discover that she can’t remember him. 

“Sting! I have an idea. We should…”

“Kidnap her! Lector you’re absolutely right!”

Rogue looked between the two with a worried look, before stuttering, “Um, Sting. Maybe you shouldn’t—“

“Fro thinks so, too!”

“Frosch! Why are you encouraging them?”

“It’s settled,” Lector declared, “We’ll kidnap her tomorrow once the competitions are over!”

———————————-

“You okay?” 

Laxus had slowly stepped to the bed where Emi had buried herself under the covers. She was facing away from the door and made the blankets into a cocoon of sorts. The woman let out a small noise to show that she was listening. 

“Do you want to talk about it?”

Emi stayed quiet. Laxus sat down gently onto the empty side of the bed and let silence fill the room. Emi eventually poked her head from the blanket and looked up at the lightning dragon slayer. 

“Is it true? Do I really know them? Am I really…”

“As far as I know, yes.”

“How come you never told me if you knew?”

Laxus sighed before explaining, “I had no clue who you were mated to and you couldn’t remember. I wanted you to see who it was before I went all around trying to find a random dragon slayer.”

Emi hummed before slipping her hand out of the sack of blankets and grabbed his wrist. 

“So,” Emi laughed, seeming to have recovered from her shock, “we’re dating, huh?”

Laxus snorted in response before ruffling her hair. Laxus looked down at Emi, joking, “At least they found out before actually planning our wedding. Mira can be quite the...romantic.”

“We should’ve gone through with it. Then we would’ve gotten all the wedding shower gifts. Then we would both say no at the altar and shock the shit out of everyone.”

Laxus’s laugh echoed through the room. 

——————————

“So like,” Lisanna asked, “what do we do now?”

“We kick their asses!”

“But Natsu,” Happy interjected, shocking everyone that he wasn’t agreeing, “she’s bonded with him. Shouldn’t we let him help her?”

“No way, Happy! That guy’s bad news.”

Ezra looked at Natsu and said, “I agree. This is a lot to take in, but I do think that we should at least allow him to help. No matter how much we don’t like him, he and Emi have a bond that shouldn’t be broken. And I would hate to be the one to keep them apart. We all care about Emi a lot, and I think we all want her to regain her memories. If he is able to help her then we should let him.”

Everyone looked at Erza before reluctantly agreeing.


	26. Dragon Book

_Four people were sitting around a small fire. They were in a clearing in the middle of the forest. Emi recognized the one she remembered as Kira, and she saw that she was sitting next to the teenager she saw before. There was another young woman sitting next to Kira; she had long black hair and green eyes._

_The unknown woman spoke up, turning to Kira, “Kira, why wouldn’t you let me bring any drinks?This is so boring sober.”_

_“Cool it, Yame. You can go without booze for one night.”_

_Emi giggled at the two before turning to the man. They both made eye contact with each other before they gave each other a soft smile. The man pulled Emi into his side, and Emi leaned her head on his chest._

_“Hey guys, we know you guys are like a thing now, but if you’re going to cuddle you might as well kiss. At least make it worth it for us to have to look at you two being all gushy.”_

_The man looked down at Emi and started wiggling his eyebrows. Emi looked at the two girls on the other side of the fire before leaning up into a kiss._

_“EW. I didn’t think you’d actually do it! Knock it off! We need to focus on the mission.”_

_“Ayame,” the man responded, “why would you suggest it then?”_

_“Shut up. Be useful and get more firewood.”_

_“Come on buddy! The ladies want us strong men to do the heavy lifting!”_

_The man had bent down near the fire and an animal had crawled onto the man’s back before he walked into the forest._

Emi woke up with a start. It all seemed so vivid to her, like it was yesterday. She looked at the wall across from the bed and yawned. She would’ve written it off as some weird dream, but she knew that it was a memory because Kira and that man were there. 

“It’s about time you woke up. It’s almost time for the second day to start! The competitions will be starting soon,” Natsu yelled. 

“Sorry Natsu. I guess I overslept.”

“Well we can’t be late. I’m competing in this one!”

\-----------------------------------

“Um, Master Grampa? Why exactly did Natsu and Gajeel choose to participate in this specific event?”

Everyone was watching as Natsu and Gajeel battled to move even a centimeter. Their motion sickness had kicked in as soon as the chariots started moving. 

“Wait,” Lisanna asked, “Since when does Gajeel have motion sickness?”

Emi looked in confusion to see that Gajeel looked just as bad as Natsu. _Didn’t he say he would never be like Natsu?_

“Congratulations,” Sting muttered as he held back from vomiting where he stood, “You’re a real dragon slayer now.”

Emi looked at the three, silently cheering on Natsu and Gajeel. The dragon slayers were the only competitors who hadn’t crossed the finish line yet. In fact, they were all still stuck on the first cart. Emi’s eyes drifted over to Sting as he questioned why they were even bothering to keep going. Tears welled in her eyes when she heard Natsu’s speech about how he was defending Fairy Tail and fighting for his friends. She really loved being a part of this guild; they all really cared for each other, and she was finally able to feel like she had a family again.

For some reason, her eyes did not drift from the blond dragon slayer. No matter what she tried to do, she felt like she shouldn’t look away. Natsu ended up finishing right before Gajeel, and Sting dropped out of the race, saying that a point didn’t matter to Sabertooth. 

\------------------------------------

The second day of the Magic Games concluded. Fairy Tail decided to celebrate Elfman’s victory at the inn, where morale was significantly higher than the previous night. Emi was sitting with Levy going over different books that they found in the shop. Levy handed over the book she bought for Emi the previous day, and Emi wasted no time in starting to read it: _Dragons and Disaster: A History of Dragons and Dragon Slayers._

Emi carefully went through each page using the special glasses Levy gave her, marking any important information that might help her figure out the situation she was in. 

\------------------------------------

Back at Sabertooth’s inn, the atmosphere was deadly. Master Jiemma called a meeting, and Yukino ended up kicked out after her loss to Kagura. Everyone looked away as the master demanded that she undress and remove her crest. She silently exited the inn and made her way over to Fairy Tail to speak to Lucy. 

After the meeting was adjourned, Rogue went to ask Sting if he still was thinking of going through with his and Lector’s plan.

“I can’t do it now, Rogue. Look at what just happened. It wouldn’t be best.”

Lector looked down and flew on top of Sting’s head. They both had a sad look on their faces. 

“Can we at least go and see her, Sting? I wanna see Lady Emiko.”

Sting looked up at the exceed before sighing, saying that Fairy Tail wouldn’t let him anywhere near their inn. Lector sadly agreed before he started to smile.

“What about the book, Sting? We can go and give her the book! They’ll surely let her see us for that.” 

“Um, what book are you two talking about?” Rogue questioned.

Sting looked up, excitement beginning to reappear in his eyes: “It’s a book on dragons that Em was always reading. She wanted to learn as much as possible about them. She always carried the dragon book around with her fairy tale book. Lector, you're a genius!”

The dragon slayer and exceed quickly ran up, grabbed the book from one of Sting’s bags and jumped down the stairs. 

“Do you bring that book everywhere?” Rogue implored.

“We always brought it with us in case we found her. Good thing we do.”

Sting ran out of the inn with Lector flying behind him at top speed. They raced through Crocus to the inn that Fairy Tail stayed. Sting looked at the door before sighing and starting to turn back.

“Sting! What are you doing? Don’t you want to see Lady Emiko?”

“It’s just,” Sting sadly explained, “Giving her a book won’t do anything. All she’ll do is thank us and take it. What’re we supposed to do to help her remember the book? It’ll be just a random book on dragons to her.”

“Nonsense!” 

And after screaming that, Lector flew into the large doors as hard as he could until the door slowly creaked open. Everyone in Fairy Tail looked towards the door opening. They all stopped what they were doing to look at who was coming in. Natsu was the first to realize who it was, and he stomped over to the pair.

“Come here to apologize? We know what your guild did to Yukino! You guys call yourselves a guild? A guld is supposed to care for their members, not kick them out after one loss!”

Sting looked over towards the table where Lucy and Yukino were sitting. He could see that Yukino had been crying, and he felt guilty. 

“Sir Sting,” Yukino started, “what are you doing here?”

“Uh…”

“We came to see Lady Emiko! Lady Emiko, Sting and I have something for you.”

Once Lector saw that Sting made no movement towards the woman, the maroon exceed snatched the book from Sting’s hands and flew it over to Emi. He dropped the book in front of her and landed on the table. Emi stared at the book for a minute before giving the exceed a small and confused “thank you” before turning towards Sting. 

“Thanks for the book. I’ll make sure to look at it later.”

“No, Lady Emiko! You have to look at it now! You’ll remember us once you do.”

“Lector, don’t push her too much,” Sting reminded the rather determined exceed. 

“But Sting!”

Sting shushed Lector and looked around awkwardly. He looked at his idol, Natsu, before looking at Yukino one last time and holding his gaze at Emi. Emi noticed his stare and shifted uncomfortably in her seat next to Levy. The blond dragon slayer sighed before turning around to leave. 

“Sorry for interrupting,” he muttered before he slowly exited the inn. 

Once the doors were closed, Emi looked down at the book the pair had delivered to her. She carefully opened the book, as the binding seemed to be falling apart. She quickly read the introduction and looked at the different pictures. Everyone watched the woman to see any reaction she might have from the visit, but she held none except for a focused look in her eyes as she read. She took in a sharp breath.

_“Look! This book is all about dragons. Isn’t that cool?” Emi questioned excitedly._

_“You know,” the teenager commented, “I don’t think I’ve seen you this excited before.”_

_“Just look at it!” Emi yelled as she shoved the book in his face._

_Emi had started to explain all the pictures and dragged the man over to a nearby tree. She had made him sit very close to her as she gave him a quick summary of what she had read so far._

_“You’re forgetting one thing Em. I already know all this stuff.”_

_“Oh yeah? Do you know what to do when a dragon gets sick? I don’t think so.”_

_The man laughed before asking why it would be relevant, seeing as the dragons had disappeared._

_“Because,” Emi said matter-of-factly, “dragon slayers behave the same way as dragons. So this also applies to when a dragon slayer gets sick. Now I know what to do!”_

Emi looked around the inn to see everyone staring at her with concern.

“What’s wrong? DId I bleed this time?” Emi joked to try to lighten the mood.

She looked down at the book again before standing up suddenly. All eyes were on her once again. She quickly brushed it off and said that she needed to get some air. She turned to Laxus and promised him that she would be back soon so that way he didn’t worry. Once she made it out of the inn, she sprinted in the direction of the Sabertooth inn. She had successfully caught up to Sting and Lector.

“Wait!” Emi yelled as she struggled to catch her breath.

The pair turned around and looked at the woman in wonder before Lector started crying.

“Lady Emiko, I knew that book would bring it all back. I missed you so much.”

Emi looked down as she said, “Um, actually I only really remember getting the book. I don’t really remember anything else. Sorry.”

Sting spoke up, “Why did you run after us like that then?”

“I don’t remember you at all, but you know me. And I want to know myself.”

The pair looked down before Sting said that she better get back to Fairy Tail before they start worrying. Emi looked towards the two of them, not knowing what to say to comfort them, and turned around to leave.

“I’m really sorry,” she whispered to them as she walked away.

“Yeah,” Sting mumbled. “Me too.”

\---------------------------------------------

Emi quietly snuck into her shared room in the inn. 

“I was starting to wonder where you went.”

The woman looked at Laxus before telling him that she had gone to thank Sting and Lector for the book. Laxus hummed before motioning for her to get into bed. Emi’s smile appeared on her face as she jumped into bed and buried herself in the blankets.

“At least let me have some of the blankets. You do this all the time, you hog.”

Emi laughed before pulling the blankets further away from the lightning mage.


	27. Laxus vs Ivan

“Holy shit. She can’t be serious. All one hundred monsters?” Emi looked at Erza with shock and admiration. 

Everyone watched intently to see how the event would play out. After she defeated all the monsters, Erza successfully won the competition, gaining full points for one of the Fairy Tail teams. Next was Cana’s turn to impress the stadium. She had broken the MPF with her Fairy Glitter. Everyone started cheering. Emi looked over at the other teams and saw that they were all in shock. The next match was one that brought tension to the Fairy Tail section. Laxus versus Alexei of Raven Tail. After everything that Raven Tail had done to the wizards of Fairy Tail, everyone was ready for them to lose. Emi looked over to Laxus as he stood in the competitors section. _Is he going to be okay?_

Both challengers made their way into the field. As soon as the match started, Alexei started beating Laxus. Everyone looked on in shock, confused as to why the lightning mage was being overpowered so easily. Emi looked serious before looking down, clearly worried. 

“Child, everything will be okay,” Makarov soothed. “We have an eye on Raven Tail and we’ll do something if we see anything suspicious.”

Emi looked at the master before seriously stating, “Something’s wrong.”

Before anyone could question her, Emi jumped up on one of the pillars, right next to where Master Mavis was sitting. Everyone looked at her in shock before she started shouting towards the field.

“Laxus!”

“Child, please calm down. He’ll be fine.”

“Ivan might be your father, but he’s not your family! Fairy Tail is your family! And if you think that it’s wrong to fight your father then I’ll carry the burden with you!”

Emi put her fists in the air and looked down at the field with a fire in her eyes. Sting looked on from Sabertooth’s balcony in wonder. _What is she doing?_

Suddenly, a purple fog lifted from the field, revealing Laxus standing there with five members of Raven Tail laying on the ground defeated. Everyone was silent until the pumpkin man recognized “Alexei” as Ivan, the guild’s master. Everyone gasped before someone shouted that Fairy Tail must be really strong for one of their wizards to defeat an entire team by himself. Laxus looked up at the stands to where Fairy Tail was sitting. He made eye contact with Emi before giving her a small smile. He then looked at her again with a serious look.

“Hey, get down from that pillar. You’re going to fall, and I’m not catching your ass.”

Emi smiled wide and cheered for the mage before getting down off the pillar and running down to the corridor leading to the field. She ran towards Laxus and gave him a big hug. 

“You did it!”

Laxus grunted before gently patting her head. The two stayed there in silence before Laxus let out a quiet “thank you” to the woman. 

\--------------------------------------

“How on earth did she see through that?” Gray asked.

“I don’t know,” Natsu stated, “but that was super cool. I’m all fired up now!”

\----------------------------------------

“Wow, a dragon slayer versus a god slayer? I have _dreamed_ for this day to happen!”

Emi watched on as Wendy and Chelia began to battle. Her eyes twinkled once Wendy broke out her sky drill spell. She gasped when she saw that Chelia was able to heal herself mid-battle. 

“You know,” Levy started, “Sabertooth has a lightning god slayer on their team. Maybe he and Laxus will fight.”

Emi’s head whipped around and looked at Levy with a fire in her eyes.

“Do you really think so?!”

Everyone laughed at the woman’s enthusiasm as they watched the fight.

\---------------------------------

“Man, this sucks.”

“Sting, what’re you talking about?” Rogue questioned, looking at the frustrated look on his partner’s face.

“They seem so close and it’s bothering the hell out of me. Like yeah, thanks for looking out for her, but they don’t have to be so _close_ ,” Sting muttered.

“Jealous?”

“Of course I am! She can’t even remember me!”

“Sting,” Rogue started, “how was she able to see through that illusion? I don’t think anyone else was able to.”

Sting smirked before stretching.

“Now who would I be if I didn’t mate with someone just as powerful as myself?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! Just a short chapter for now. Enjoy!


	28. Asking

“That was so COOL! Wendy, you have got to tell me more about your sky dragon slayer magic. I had no idea it could be that powerful. And Erza, you have to share about your power too. It’s requip magic, right? How many different armors do you have? Do you get more? How do you get more? What--”

“Em, relax.”

Emi turned to Laxus, irritated that he had interrupted her. She turned back to the two wizards and continued asking questions. Laxus chuckled before standing up and lifting Emi off her feet, holding her from under her armpits. 

“Laxus! Put me down!”

_“Relax.”_

Emi huffed and turned her head away from him before grumbling something about how he was being mean and that she was just trying to learn.

“Hey Emi,” Mira spoke up, “that was pretty cool what you did back there. I wasn’t even able to tell that it was an illusion. How did you know?”

“Illusion? Oh! I didn’t.”

Everyone sweatdropped before Natsu asked, “Then how did you know to say those things to Laxus?”

Emi shrugged her shoulders before saying that it just didn’t seem right that Laxus wasn’t fighting back at all.

“I knew that there was no way he would give up a fight. Not even because he had history with who he’s fighting. Laxus doesn’t lose.”

Everyone looked at her, satisfied with her answer before they heard her continue by happily exclaiming, “He doesn’t lose, except when he does! Like when he fought Gildarts!”

Laxus looked at Emi with an annoyed look, and he saw that the same glint was in her eyes from when he fought with Gildarts in front of her. Everyone in the inn sweatdropped again.

“Yeah well Laxus lost to me!” Natsu screamed while jumping on a table.

“Woah, really?! Natsu, you have to tell me more!”

Makarov had to calm everyone down before it got too rowdy. He was right, as a full on brawl erupted a few minutes later. Emi giggled as she watched the Fairy Tail wizards energetically fighting with one another. 

_“Listen here, girlie. You’re going to come with us and surrender quietly. Then maybe you won’t get hurt, and we’ll even spare your friend here.”_

_A strange man was holding Kira in one hand by her hair._

_“Emi...don’t listen to him.”_

_“Kira!”_

_“Well, how about it? Do you accept? If you don’t, I have no problem taking care of her right here.”_

_Emi stood up, wincing at what looked to be a broken ankle. She slowly walked over to the man. Right when she was going to agree, a large boom was heard behind her._

_“What do you think you’re doing, pal?” A voice asked sarcastically._

_“You’re a little late, asshole!” Kira shouted._

_“Hey,” the voice said, “I always say better late than never.”_

_Emi turned around to see the young man from her other memories standing in the doorway with his arms crossed._

_“Now,” he said, cracking his knuckles, “before I beat you to a pulp, do you have any last words?”_

_The enemy laughed loudly while stating that he wasn’t the one who would be dying._

_“Can you hurry up already?” Kira asked, annoyed. “My head hurts from his asshole pulling my hair for so long.”_

_There was a bright light and then the enemy laid face down on the floor. Kira fell out of his grasp and rubbed her head before walking over to Emi and the young man._

_“Took you long enough,” Kira grumbled before walking past him. “Let’s just go. I want a bath.”_

_“As you wish, your highness.” The man playfully bowed._

_“Emi, you’re not too hurt are you?” Kira asked, looking at the woman’s ankle._

_“No, I should be fine. It’s just uncomfortable. That’s all.”_

_Emi started to walk behind the two before she screamed in pain. Worry was evident in both her friends’ eyes, and the young man slowly made his way over to Emi. He suddenly scooped her up and carried her with his hands under her neck and knees. Emi blushed before squirming in his hold._

_“Hey! Put me down! I can walk on my own perfectly fine.”_

_The man gave a quick “mmhmm” before carrying her further and tightening his grip as she continued to squirm._

“Hey Emi, are you okay?”

Emi quickly looked to Levy, who she didn’t realize had come right next to her. She told Levy that she was fine and that she was just taking in the sight of the bickering guild. Levy nodded and walked back over to her table that was filled with books. Lucy looked at Emi across the room before slinking over to her, making sure to avoid any furniture that was sent flying by the fighting Fairy Tail members. 

“So,” Lucy said, drawing the woman’s attention, “I heard you have a secret admirer. Well, I guess not so secret and more of an adamant idiot.”

Emi looked at Lucy and explained that she had no idea who he was. 

“He knows so much about me though. I just don’t really know how.”

“He might actually know you, Emi. It wouldn’t be that far fetched. I mean, who even is he?”

Emi looked away before quietly answering, “Sting Eucliffe.”

“WHAT? That guy from Sabertooth? Really? Wasn’t he here yesterday when Yukino came by?”

Emi groaned, “I know. I know. But he just barged in here, claimed that he knew me, said I was his mate or something, and then just left!”

“You should ask him out,” Lucy said bluntly. 

“ _What? Why?_ I don’t know him.”

“I mean you obviously do. You just don’t remember. What better way to recover your memories than to go right to the source of them! Now go.”

Lucy made a “shoo” noise similar to when Natsu did it and pushed Emi out of the inn and into the night, telling her to find the dragon slayer.

“This is just great. How on earth can I find him? I’m definitely _not_ going to the Sabertooth inn. They’d kill me on sight.”

\------------------------------------

Sting and Rogue were currently walking around Crocus, their exceeds close behind. 

“Man, that Laxus sure is powerful.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“Are you still upset that she likes him better than you?”

Sting stopped walking and yelled at Rogue, “She _doesn’t_ like him better! He’s just the only one of the two of us that she remembers.”

The two started bickering when Sting stopped and looked around. Rogue looked at him and asked if something was wrong. Sting kept scanning the area before jumping on top of the closest building.

“Sting, get down from there. People are going to notice,” Rogue pleaded.

There she was, walking alone around Crocus. Sting smirked before turning back to his partner.

“I have to go do something, but I’ll be back. Watch Lector for me!”

Sting gave a quick thumbs up and started running.

\---------------------------------

“This is pointless. I don’t know what Lucy was thinking when she sent me out here.”

A figure suddenly jumped down from on top of a nearby building and landed right in front of her, causing Emi to scream in surprise. She did not know if it was someone malicious, but seemed to calm down when she saw it was the Sabertooth wizard.

Sting looked at her and put his hand up, waving, “Yo.”

“Don’t do that!”

Sting chuckled before giving a quick apology.

“So,” Sting attempted to start a conversation, “what’re you doing out here alone in the dark?”

Emi looked up, blushing slightly before looking upwards, lying, “I was just admiring the stars. You can see them clearly from out here.”

“Ya know, you can see them even more clearly from up higher.”

“Huh?”

Sting quickly grabbed Emi, eliciting a surprised squeak, and jumped onto the roof of a building. He pointed to the sky to show her the better view and sat down.

“Why did you do that!”

“Hm? To help you see the stars better. Why else?”

Emi looked away before looking back up at the sky. She looked back to Sting and noticed he was patting the spot next to him on the roof. Emi slowly made her way back over to Sting before hesitantly sitting down next to him. 

“See? This isn’t so bad.”

Emi hummed, turning her focus to the sky in order to try to ignore the dragon slayer. Sting looked to the side to see Emi from the corner of his eye. He pointed at a random cloud.

“I think that one looks like a platypus wearing a helicopter hat. What do you think?”

Emi looked at the man, a little taken back before looking up at the cloud. She thought for a second, looking carefully at the cloud’s shape.

“I think it looks more like a person holding a fishing rod.”

“What? No way. It’s obviously a platypus.”

They looked at each other and laughed. _Why does this seem so natural?_ Emi remembered one of her memories, and it seemed to be the exact same situation they were currently in. She looked back over to the dragon slayer, but found that he was still looking at the sky. He spoke without looking at her.

“I know that you can’t remember anything, but I really hope I can help. All this time I’ve been looking for you. And everyday I regret leaving you alone. I just want you safe, and if staying in Fairy Tail will make you safe, then I won’t try to change that. Just knowing that you’re still alive and happy is all I really need.”

Emi looked up at the sky, watching the clouds roll by due to the evening breeze. _Well, it’s now or never._ Emi started to blush, and she looked to the side so she wasn’t facing him.

“Would you like to, um, maybe go on a date with me?”

She heard his silence, and looked to see that he was staring at her with wide eyes and his mouth open.

“I mean,” she continued, panicking a little, “it doesn’t really have to be a _date_. It could just be hanging out? I mean if you don’t want to that’s completely fine. I understand it must be hard for you and you just gave that really heartfelt speech about being happy without you and I know that--”

She felt a hand slowly cover hers. She looked up to see Sting with a huge grin on his face.

“Ya know, you have a habit for rambling.”

Emi looked at him confused, commenting, “That really isn’t an answer.”

Sting laughed at the woman, making her blush even more, before playfulling answering, “Of course I’ll _hang out_ with you.”


	29. Here We Go

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Just pretend there's a couple days in between the events for the chapter to work. Enjoy!

Emi quietly slipped into the inn, careful not to make too much noise and draw attention to herself. She silently made her way to Lucy’s bedroom and creaked the door open. 

“Psst. Lucy, I need to talk to you,” Emi whispered.

Lucy slowly opened her eyes and blinked a couple times as she tried to find the source of the noise. She jumped when she saw that Emi had found her way to the side of her bed. 

“You have to give a girl a warning before doing that, Emi.”

Emi dragged Lucy out of her room and outside into the vacant street. She ignored the cold and held both of Lucy’s shoulders before looking her in the eyes.

“I need your help.”

“Okay? What for?”

“I have a date tomorrow.”

“No way! You totally asked him out! I was starting to doubt my plan when I just threw you out there like that. How did you find him?”

“Well...he kind of found me. But what do I do on a date? I’ve never been on one before.”

“You mean you don’t _remember_ ever being on one before. You’ve definitely been on one.”

“That still doesn’t help the fact that I don’t know what to do!”

Lucy had calmed the woman down before reassuring her that it would go smoothly as long as she didn’t panic. Emi nodded stiffly, making Lucy sweatdrop. _She’s totally going to panic._ Lucy guided Emi back into the inn and dropped her off at her and Laxus’s bedroom before leaving to go back to her own. 

“Psst. Are you awake?”

There was silence before a quiet voice answered.

“Psst. Are you finally back?”

Emi laughed at the lightning mage before quickly changing into her sleep clothes and crawling into bed. She fell asleep rather quickly once she was engulfed by Laxus’s arms.

_“Why do we travel around so much? I’m tired of staying in all these different inns!” Emi whined._

_Cain turned around as he continued walking. He stopped her and dragged her into a nearby alleyway. He took off the hood on his cloak before looking at her sternly._

_“Listen kid. It’s going to be bad news if someone spots me. We have to keep changing positions before they find me. You’ll be in danger if we stay in one place for too long.”_

_“I still don’t get how I would be in danger if they’re after you.”_

_“Just trust me, kid.”_

_“Can we at least stop at a food stand and get some ice cream? I’m starving.”_

_“You’re fifteen. You can go yourself. I’m going to check us into the inn.”_

_“Wow, you must really be sick of me. You never let me go anywhere alone,” Emi sarcastically answered._

Emi held onto Laxus a little tighter in her sleep as she felt the pain in her temples. She squirmed a little.

_“Emi! Let’s go. We’re going to be late!”_

_Emi reluctantly opened her eyes, saying that there was no way she could get out of bed that day. Kira stood in front of Emi’s bed with both hands on her hips. She quickly yanked the blankets off her bed, causing Emi to shiver at the sudden lack of warmth._

_“Get up, you lazy ass. We have a job to do.”_

_“And why exactly do we have to leave at three in the morning?”_

_“Because,” a new voice spoke up, “the town is eight hours away and we should get there as fast as possible.”_

_Both Emi and Kira jumped at the unexpected voice before Kira stomped over to the window._

_“What the hell are you doing coming through the window? How many times do I tell you not to do that!”_

_“But I remember you saying I can’t come in through the window. I’m not inside. I’m just sitting in the window.”_

_“You’re a pain in the ass.”_

_“Can you two stop fighting?” Emi asked through her yawns. “It’s way too early. Let’s just get on the train so I can sleep.”_

_Both Kira and the young man stayed silent for a minute before Kira smirked and pointed to the man in the window._

_“Hah! You totally forgot you had to ride the train for eight hours! This is going to be so fun.”_

_The man groaned in response before jumping down back to the streets._

_“Well I won’t be sick because Emi’s going to do that thing to make me feel better.”_

_“Oh no I won’t,” Emi declared. “I’m sleeping on the train ride. You can suffer.”_

_“Wow Emi,” the man started, “that’s super harsh.”_

Emi looked up at the ceiling deep in thought. She wanted to make sense of all these memories, but they kept containing events that happened too far apart. Her recovered memories were scattered all over the place, and she couldn’t find any connections. She groaned before freeing herself from the hold of the softly snoring lightning mage and walked over to the window. She looked out at the sky and found the Little Dipper. Her head began to hurt again and she let out a frustrated whine.

_“So?”_

_Emi looked at the young man before her gaze went back to the two girls behind her._

_“So what?”_

_“You coming?”_

_“We can’t just leave without telling them. What if they wake up? They might think someone kidnapped us. What if they--”_

_The man put a hand over Emi’s mouth, successfully silencing her. He turned back to his friends who were sleeping by the fire and pointed behind them._

_“You’re forgetting that my little buddy will protect them. He’ll tell them where we went if they start asking questions.”_

_Emi eyed the man suspiciously before allowing him to take her hand and dragging her into the forest. He motioned for them to climb a rather tall tree, which made Emi sigh. Once they made it up to a thick and sturdy branch, the young man put his arm around Emi’s shoulder before pulling her closer into his side. The man pointed up to the sky._

_“You see that thing over there? That’s the Little Dipper.”_

_Emi looked up at the stars and her eyes started twinkling. The man saw this and looked at her with a warm smile. He then reached into the small bag that he had taken up the tree with him before pulling out a small book._

_“I found this at the bookshop when you were looking at that book on celestial wizards. I figured you might like it.”_

_Emi took the book and looked at the cover: Shining Stars: A Quick Guide to Constellations. She started smiling as she opened the book and found the constellation that they were looking at. Her eyes widened as she quickly soaked in the details._

_“It says that it’s Ursa Minor, and that it’s a bear. It’s brightest star is Polaris, and there’s another constellation called Ursa Major which is right with it. Did you know that it’s the 56th biggest constellation? Did you know that--”_

_The young man laughed before putting a finger to his lips, signing that she should be quieter. Emi stopped her rambling and turned back to the book, quickly flipping through the pages._

_“So?”_

_“This was so worth the climb.”_

It was morning and Emi was still asleep. She was sweating and shaking, so Laxus wrapped her in his coat and sat beside her until she stopped. The woman eventually calmed down and slowly opened her eyes to look at Laxus before softly smiling. 

“So,” Laxus slyly started, “I heard you have a _date_ today.”

“How did you--”

“Someone as perceptive as I am can tell.”

Emi looked at him before muttering, “You overheard Lucy.”

“Yeah. Something like that might’ve happened. So where are you going?”

“I have no clue, but he said that he’d meet me outside the inn.”

“Emi!” Lucy called from the hallway. “Come on, we need to get you ready!”

“Get me ready? For what?”

“Probably your date, remember?”

“Why on earth would I need time to get ready? I’m already dressed.”

Laxus shrugged his shoulders before drifting into the bathroom to shower.

“Which one do you like better?” Lucy and Mira held up two outfits - a pink skirt with a patterned top and a short black dress with high socks.

“Um, why can’t I just wear what I usually wear?”

The two looked at each other before sighing.

“You need to wear something nice on a date,” Lucy explained. 

“It will help the date go better,” Mira added.

“How exactly...nevermind. I think I’ll just wear what I have on.”

Emi motioned to her usual outfit before walking to the front door of the inn. Lucy asked her what time she thought she’d be back, and Emi told her that she didn’t really know. 

“I hope I won’t be too long. I wanted to go explore the city with Laxus later.”

Emi quietly made her way out into the city and sat at a bench in front of the inn to wait. _I really hope that I’m not underdressed now. Maybe Lucy and Mira were right._ Emi sighed before leaning her back against the wall. _Too late now._

\------------------------

“Dude,” Sting addressed the shadow dragon slayer, “what the hell do I wear?”

“Just wear what you usually wear. I don’t really understand what the big deal is.”

“But Rogue,” Lector interjected, “you’ve never been on a date before. How would you know?”

Rogue looked annoyed at the exceed before turning to Sting again, suggesting, “Well why don’t you just wear what you did in the past? I mean you’ve dated her before. It’s not like it’s some stranger who you’re trying to impress. Just wear what you did back then.”

Lector and Sting looked to each other before Lector gave his friend a thumbs up. Sting went back into the room and changed from his sleep clothes to his usual outfit. He gave his goodbyes to his partner and the two exceeds and ran out of the inn and towards Fairy Tail’s assigned inn.

_Damn I really hope that I’m not underdressed._

\--------------------------------------

Emi was watching as the people in Crocus passed by. She looked up when she heard her name being called and saw that Sting was jogging towards her. He gave a quick “yo” before actually looking at her. They both seemed to look at what the other was wearing and both sighed in relief when they saw that neither of them dressed any differently.

“Um, so where are we going?”

“You’ll see!” And with that, Sting took Emi’s hand and began to pull her around the city.

\-------------------------------------

“Do you really think that we should be spying on them? I mean this is a kind of serious thing.”

“Nonsense,” Erza started, “we are just making sure she doesn’t get into any trouble.”

“Besides,” Mira added, “I want to see how this plays out! Two lost lovers finally meet again!”

Lucy and Erza looked over to Mira to see that she had hearts in her eyes. They both sighed before dragging Mira to an alleyway where they would be able to follow Sting and Emi without being seen.


	30. Date

“First stop!”

The couple had stopped walking and stood in front of a small bakery located at the very edge of Crocus. Sting pulled her into the shop and walked her over to an empty table. When the waitress came over to ask what they wanted, Emi asked for a slice of apple pie. Sting ordered next.

“I’ll take the Emiko.”

“That’s a very rare request. The food will be just a minute.”

“The...Emiko?”

Sting smiled at the woman before leaning his chin on his hand. 

“Yeah. You came in here so often and ordered this so much that they renamed it after you.”

“Really? I ordered it that much?”

Sting chuckled before saying that she was basically the only person who ever ordered it. The waitress came back and placed a piece of apple pie in front of Emi and then turned to Sting and placed an ice cream dish in front of him. Emi eyes the dish with curiosity. Sting noticed and decided to joke with her.

“You’re staring.”

“Sorry!” Emi quickly replied before looking down at her own food. 

Sting just laughed and gently tapped her shin with his foot. She looked back up at him with a small blush from the embarrassment of being caught. Emi was met with a playful look in Sting’s eyes. 

“You can have a bite if you want. But you have to give me some pie.”

Emi looked down at her pie and then looked over to the ice cream. She turned her gaze back to the pie. She looked back and forth between the two desserts a few more times before looking back up to an amused looking Sting. She nodded her head and eagerly took a spoon from the table and scooped a small bit of ice cream out of Sting’s dish. He watched her, smiling fondly. Emi put the spoon in her mouth and her eyes sparkled. 

“Apple? Apple ice cream? I’ve never heard of that before! Why haven’t I ever known that this existed?”

Sting laughed at her enthusiasm before taking a bit of her pie. 

“You know,” Sting said in between bites, “your look when you eat that never gets old.”

“Huh?”

“Every single time you eat it, your eyes light up. It’s almost like you’ve never tried it before. You did it every time we came here.”

“Did we come here a lot?”

“We were here at least once a week, sometimes more. We eventually came here every time we came back from a job. I think all the workers working here back then could easily recognize us.”

The two sat in silence as they ate. About halfway through, Sting noticed Emi’s frequent stares towards his ice cream. He chuckled before switching the two desserts. Emi happily ate the ice cream while Sting worked on the pie. Emi looked at the table as she built up courage.

“Can you tell me about myself?”

“Hm?” Sting looked up from his pie. “What do you wanna know?”

“Anything.”

“Let’s see. Where should I start?”

“How did we meet?”

Sting looked out the window of the shop and watched a couple walk by before turning to Emi and propping his head up with his hands. He smiled as he thought back on the memory. 

“We actually met here. I was sitting at this exact table.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. You usually sat over there,” Sting said as he pointed to a table in the corner that Sting was facing, causing Emi to turn around to follow his finger. “You would come in here every day and sit there with a cloak on. You would always order a slice of apple pie and a cup of hot chocolate. You sat there silently and never made eye contact with anyone. Lector and I watched you after seeing you here a few times. We were super curious about who was behind the hood. Actually,” Sting continued as he began to laugh, “we thought you were a dude because we could never see your face.”

Emi sat there silently as she took in all the information. 

“You eventually caught onto us watching you and you got up and walked over to our table to confront us. I remember it like yesterday because you completely sacred the shit out of both of us.”

“Me?”

“You were actually pretty intimidating for the first couple months we knew you. You seemed distant and cold and didn’t want to socialize with anyone.”

_Cold? That’s how I was in that memory before._

“Did I change?”

“Yeah. Eventually you opened up to Lector and me, and you even made friends with a couple people I worked with.”

“Kira and Ayame? I saw them in a few memories.”

Sting let out a small “yeah” and seemed to wear a sad expression as he remembered them. He quickly recovered and his usual grin reappeared. 

“It actually took me following you for you to even talk to me.”

“What do you mean?”

“You suddenly left the shop right after you confronted us, and Lector had the idea to follow you to try to apologize. We barely managed to catch up to you when we saw you turn into an alleyway.”

_Emi stood in the middle of the alleyway with a figure laying at her feet._

_“Four,” Emi muttered before turning behind her as she sensed someone watching._

_She quickly jumped in front of Lector and a teenage Sting, who wore a startled expression as they laid on the ground. They looked up at her as she slowly took off her hood to her cloak, revealing her long white hair._

_“A...girl?”_

_“Yeah. I’m a girl. What else did you think? Now what are you doing following me?” Emi snapped._

_Sting couldn’t find any words, and Lector was cowering behind the dragon slayer._

_Emi looked at the pair with cold eyes before muttering, “You two are pathetic. Just like everyone else.”_

_The woman began to move away, pulling her hood over her head again._

_“Wait!”_

_Emi turned around and put her hands on her hips, asking the blond what he wanted. Sting quickly stood up and approached the woman before sticking his hand out to her._

_“I’m Sting, and that little guy over there is Lector.”_

_“Well, Sting and Lector, leave me alone.”_

_Emi whipped around and continued down the alleyway. Before she completely disappeared, she heard the two speaking with each other._

_“Sting, she’s wicked scary.”_

_“You think so? I think she’s pretty cool!”_

“Hey Em, you okay? You’re spacing out a little bit.”

Emi looked back up to Sting, finally coming out of her trance. 

“I think I just remembered the day you’re talking about.”

Sting’s eyes lit up before his grin grew, prompting her to continue. 

“What was I doing in that alley?”

“You wouldn’t talk about it. Believe me, that’s the first thing I asked.”

Emi played with her hands as she tried to think as hard as she could. Sting leaned back in his seat.

“You wanna get out of here? You look like you need some air or something. You’re turning blue.”

Emi looked back up to the blond before blushing and slowly getting up from her seat and following him out the door.

“Um, so I guess I’ll go back to the inn now?”

“What’re you talking about? The date isn’t over yet.”

Emi looked up at him confused.

“Better buckle yourself in, Em. This day is only just beginning!”

\--------------------------------------

“Is he serious?” Lucy asked incredulously. “Just how long will this date be?”

Mira spoke up, gushing, “They make the cutest couple. I can’t wait to see them kiss!”

“Mira,” Erza commented, “We shouldn’t expect that much from this. It is the first date after all.”

“Technically it isn’t. He’s been on many dates with her.”

“Yeah, but she’s only been on one date with him.”

“True love always shines through! You two should know that by now.”


	31. Date (Part 2)

“Lector, you’ve been pacing for an hour. You’re making me worry. I told Sting I’d look after you.”

“Fro thinks so, too!”

“We should go spy on them,” Lector said seriously.

“Fro thinks so, too!”

“Frosch! Lector, we should let them have their space.”

“Please, Rogue. Just for a little bit. Then I promise to leave them alone.”

Rogue let out a defeated sigh.

\---------------------------------

“But we just had ice cream.”

“That was _apple_ ice cream. This is _vanilla_ ice cream.”

Emi laughed at the dragon slayer’s childish nature before agreeing to an ice cream cone. The couple had been casually walking around Crocus before bumping into an ice cream stand, causing Sting to tug on Emi’s hand and drag her over.

Emi looked down at their interlocked hands before blushing. She didn’t even know when they started holding hands. _It surely couldn’t have been this whole time, right?_ She thought that it seemed so natural. Sting looked at Emi and noticed that she wasn’t eating her ice cream and asked if something was wrong. Emi’s ears heated up before convincing the dragon slayer that she was just thinking about the Games. Sting hummed in response. The two finished their ice cream as they traveled towards the center of the city. Sting quickly jumped behind Emi and covered her eyes with his hands. 

“Hey! What are you doing?” Emi asked, startled by the blond’s sudden actions.

Sting laughed and guided her to their destination. When Sting uncovered her eyes, Emi blinked a couple times to adjust to the light. She looked around and saw that she was surrounded by flowers. Emi spun around, realizing that she was in a garden, and a big one at that.

“Are we in…”

“Yep! We’re in the royal flower gardens!”

“How on earth are we here? I thought the palace shut down the gardens for the Magic Games.” 

Sting pulled her to the center fountain as he simply said, “I know a guy.”

Emi looked around in wonder, trying desperately to process all the different flowers. This garden was so much different than the gardens in Hargeon. There were so many more flowers, so many more colors, so many more smells. Her eyes twinkled as she looked in different directions. Sting looked over at her, his eyes filled with adoration. He smiled to himself, taking in the sight of Emi smiling and laughing as she ran to all the different flower patches. Sting tapped on the woman’s shoulder to gain her attention. When she looked behind her, she saw that he was motioning for her to follow him. 

“If I remember right, you like these ones the best.”

Sting pointed to a patch of flowers that held a lavender color. 

_“Sting! Look at these!”_

_Sting looked up and followed Emi’s gaze. He raised his eyebrow to ask her to elaborate._

_“They’re called catmint. Aren’t they beautiful?”_

_Sting stood up and stretched before wandered over to the woman, clearly interested in whatever drew her attention so much._

_“Let me see.”_

_Emi sidestepped while squatting and motioned for the dragon slayer to bend down and join her. He quickly did so and started to touch the catmint. He smiled and picked up a flower from the patch._

_“I think it would match your hair,” Sting commented._

_“But my hair is white.”_

_“Well then let’s find out, shall we?”_

_Sting sat down on the grass in front of the patch and pulled Emi out of her squatting position. He slowly brushed her hair behind her ear before gently placing the catmint in her hair. Emi blushed at the action before looking at Sting’s eyes. They slowly leaned in towards each other. Their lips barely touched before they pulled away. Sting rubbed the back of his neck before nervously laughing._

_“Heh, sorry about that. Anyway, what were you saying?”_

_Emi had a deep red tint to her whole face as she struggled with words._

_“I was, um, just saying that my hair is white.”_

_Emi and Sting looked away from each other for a moment before Emi picked up a small catmint and placed it in Sting’s hair._

_“There,” she beamed, “now we match.”_

Emi’s face was overheating as she recalled that day in the flower gardens. Sting looked over at her and saw that there were a couple drops of blood coming out of her ears. He looked at her concerned.

“Remember something?”

Emi stuttered before looking in the opposite direction. She yelled at herself that she needed to calm down. She slowly nodded before turning back away from him. Sting looked at the back of her head before speaking. 

“So which embarrassing moment did you remember?”

“Huh?” Emi asked, hoping that he wouldn’t pinpoint what she saw.

“Everytime we came here something happened.”

“Really?”

“This was your favorite place, so I tried to take you here as much as possible. It’s rarely open though, so I tried to make our trips here memorable.”

“Hey! You two. What are you doing here? The gardens are off limits!”

The two looked over towards the other side of the garden and saw that three guards were running towards them and shouting. 

“Crap.”

Sting scooped Emi up and jumped up and out of the gardens. The couple landed on a nearby roof before Sting gently placed her down. 

“I thought you said we were allowed in there!”

“Actually, I said I knew a guy. And I do, but he never said I could come.”

Emi looked at the dragon slayer in disbelief. 

“Are you _kidding me_? Do you know how much trouble we could’ve been in? What about Sabertooth? Your master could _kill you_ , especially if you got disqualified. And don’t even get me started on--”

Sting clasped his hand over the woman’s mouth before taking her hand in his. 

“Sometimes love makes you wanna care more about someone else than yourself. As long as you enjoyed yourself, I would’ve taken any punishment I got.”

Emi blushed before turning her head to the side, stating, “You’re an idiot.”

Sting laughed and squeezed her hand before agreeing, “I know!”

\----------------------------------------

“If they got caught, would Fairy Tail be punished?” Lucy asked.

“Indeed,” Erza simply stated.

“It would’ve all been worth it!” Mira exclaimed, still having hearts in her eyes. 

“I would love to hear you say that to the master once we were kicked out of the Games,” Erza remarked.

“Even so,” Mira defended, “I think Emi’s really starting to remember. Lucy, your theory is working! She’ll remember in no time.”

\---------------------------------------

“That _idiot_.”

“Rogue, don’t call him an idiot. Sting is very smart! He’s the smartest!”

“He would’ve easily been dead if Master Jiemma found out that we were disqualified.”

“Fro thinks so, too!”

\----------------------------------------

“So now what?” Emi asked curiously.

They were still standing on top of the roof. Sting held his hand up to his chin as he thought.

“We talk.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well I was planning on being able to be in the gardens for a little while longer, so we have time to kill before going to our next destination!”

Emi eyed him suspiciously before asking, “And are we actually allowed to go to this ‘next destination’ or is it a ‘I know a guy’ situation?”

Sting laughed and said that it is open for everyone to go.

“So now, we wait.”

Sting sat with his legs crossed and motioned for Emi to do the same. Emi looked around for a moment and went quiet.

_“What would happen if I died?”_

_Emi was sitting with the young man on top of a roof._

_“What brought that on?”_

_Emi turned to the man and sighed._

_“Everyone I love ends up leaving me, but I think it’s my turn this time.”_

_“What does that mean?”_

_“I’m in danger and some powerful people are after me. I’m just saying that it’s a big possibility that I end up dying, and I want you to be prepared for that.”_

_“I promise you,” the man started as he held both her hands, “I won’t let anyone hurt you as long as I’m alive. You can count on that.”_

_Emi looked at the young man as she started to cry. She was barely able to make anything put between her sobs, showing how much his words had affected her. She finally managed to say two words._

_“Thank you.”_

Emi shook her head to clear the memory before looking back up to Sting. He was looking at her expectantly as he waited for an answer.

“Well?”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t hear what you said. I spaced out.”

Sting’s laugh echoed through the streets.

“I asked if something was on your mind, but I guess you answered that already.”

Emi looked around Crocus from the rooftop, taking in all the sights that she wouldn’t be able to see from her height on the ground. 

“Sting?”

“What’s up?”

“Am I...going to die?”

Sting went quiet and looked down at a nearby food cart.

“...I don’t know.”

Emi clasped her hands together and squeezed them. She was always afraid of dying. That’s why she felt so comfortable when she was around Laxus. He is a powerful wizard who is more than capable of protecting her from danger, which is exactly what he had been doing for two years. She felt herself shaking.

“Come here.”

Emi looked towards Sting who had moved from the middle of the roof to the edge so that his feet dangled off the side. He waved her over with his hand. Still shaking, Emi mirrored his position. Sting looked up at the sky and stared at the sun.

“I’m here. And I’m not going anywhere this time.”

Emi stopped shaking as much, but she let out a couple of sniffles. Sting heard these and he sighed. The sound of her sniffles broke his heart. He never wanted Emi to be scared. He never wanted to have her face any danger. But he knew that there wasn’t an easy way out of it. He leaned over and gently patted the top of Emi’s head as they sat in silence.

\--------------------------------------

“Is she...going to be okay?” Lucy asked, full of concern.

“It seems that she might be in some danger.”

“Now that you mention it,” Mira observed, “he said that she was in danger when he first came into the inn.”

“We must have faith.”

\----------------------------------

“I hate when Lady Emiko is scared.”

“Fro thinks so, too!”

“Sting…”


	32. Date (Part 3)

“Are you ready to move locations?” Sting asked as he stood up from his previous position. 

Emi wiped her eyes one last time before nodding and standing up. Sting stretched his arms and looked back at Emi. 

“How do you wanna do this?”

“Huh?”

“My choice it is!”

Sting picked her up and jumped down into the streets, narrowly missing a group of people. Everyone was staring at the couple who seemed to appear out of nowhere. Emi squirmed in his grasp as she looked at the people. Sting eventually set her down.

“ _Stop_ doing that! I swear, I’ve never met anyone who goes on roofs as much as you. The only other person I can think of is Natsu.”

“I don’t know what you’re getting at, but being compared to Natsu is insulting.”

“Oh? How so?”

“I’m way stronger than that first generation. He doesn’t know what being a real dragon slayer is about.”

“He seemed to have just as severe motion sickness as you,” Emi defended.

Sting blushed and mumbled, “Well third generations are the strongest.”

“Third generation? There’s more than two?”

“Yeah Em. You already knew--”

Emi looked at the dragon slayer with a raised eyebrow, challenging him to finish his sentence.

“...Right. Sorry.”

“Tell me about it! What’s a third generation dragon slayer? What makes them different from first or second generation dragon slayers? Do you get special extra abilities? Is your sense of smell bet--”

“Jeez, Em. And to think you were about to cry a few minutes ago.”

“Now _that_ is not an answer.”

Sting took Emi by the hand and started to pull her through the crowds. Once they got to a cluster of buildings, Sting brought both of them into an alleyway. Emi had her back against the wall of the surrounding building, and Sting stood closely in front of her so that her head was almost touching his chest. Emi could hear Sting’s heartbeat. Even though it was fast, it calmed Emi. She had to fight the urge to bring her ear to his heart. 

“Uh, Sting? Would you like to explain to me why you’re pinning me against a wall in an alley?”

“Someone is following us.”

“Who?”

“Well, on one hand I can clearly smell Rogue. On the other, I can smell a group of your _friends_ from Fairy Tail. They’ve probably been following us for a while, but the crowds drowned their scent,” Sting explained before groaning. “Great, Rogue is so gonna kill me for the flower garden incident.”

“Well I won’t blame him if he did.”

“You’re supposed to be on my side.”

\--------------------------------

“Where did they go? I completely lost sight of them,” Lucy groaned. 

“I think I saw them go this way.”

“Absolutely not,” Erza countered Mira, “they went that way.”

\------------------------------

“Dammit.”

“Where did Sting go?”

“He probably smelt us. I knew we shouldn’t have followed him.”

“I still want to follow and see Lady Emiko!”

“Fro thinks so, too!”

“Guys, we can’t do anything else. He’s already caught on. He’ll just keep hiding from us.”

\--------------------------------

“Can we at least sit down. I don’t feel like being in this alleyway plastered up against you.”

Sting huffed before moving away from Emi and putting a hand on his hip.

“Better?”

Emi decided to ignore his sass and asked Sting to continue to explain the different generations. 

“First generation dragon slayers were raised by actual dragons who taught them magic. That’s Natsu, Wendy and Gajeel. Second generation dragon slayers had a magic lacrima implanted in them. That’s Laxus and that guy, Cobra or whatever. Third generation dragon slayers are a mixture. We were raised by dragons and have a lacrima implanted. That’s me and Rogue. Third generation is the strongest.”

“So you’re telling me that you could beat Laxus, Gajeel, Wendy and Natsu? Generation doesn’t matter. What matters is the heart that’s behind it.”

_“Come on. You have to take a break. You’ve been out here for hours.”_

_The teenager was leaning on his knees and looked completely out of energy. He looked up at Emi with tired eyes._

_“I can’t. I have to get stronger.”_

_Emi made her way over to the dragon slayer before wrapping her arms around his back._

_“Why are you pushing yourself so hard?”_

_“I need to get stronger than him. I need to beat him.”_

_“Who?”_

Sting looked at Emi before sighing. He walked back over to her and put both of them in their original position with Emi between the wall and Sting. 

“Uh, Sting?”

Sting silently leaned down and placed his forehead on hers. He stayed like that without saying anything. Emi looked shocked. She felt this same aura from when Laxus needed a comforting hug. She wanted to help him, but she couldn’t tell what was bothering him so much. His usual grin was replaced by a soft frown. 

“Sting are you oka--”

Sting removed his forehead and took a step back before looking off to the side.

“Sorry. Just realized how weird that must’ve been for you. Let’s get going before it gets dark out.”

He started to walk out of the alleyway and into the crowds. Emi ran to catch up to him after looking at him in confusion. She looked up at him to see that he seemed to be back to normal which made Emi feel relieved. 

“So where are we going anyway?”

Sting turned around and gave her a big smile.

“You’ll see!”

Emi laughed at his childish enthusiasm as she quickly followed the dragon slayer to a clearing by a park. There stood a large group of Eastern redbuds, their pink flowers swaying with the breeze. The woman looked at the sight in awe. 

“You used to come here a lot. Said the trees calmed you.”

“This is so cool! Look at all of them!”

Sting looked on as Emi started to run towards the trees.

_“You really think it’ll be alright?”_

_“It’s just a broken arm, Emi. He’ll be fine.”_

_“Besides,” the young man said, “I have a great doctor to help me.”_

_“Hey asshole, did you forget that I’m the doctor?”_

_The man groaned, leaning back into Emi’s embrace._

_“Don’t let her get to me, whatever you do.”_

“Em?”

“Sorry. I got a little flashback.”

“Anything interesting?”

“Not really. Someone was hurt, but it wasn’t serious.”

Sting then pointed upwards to draw attention to a flock of birds that were flying overhead. Emi smiled as she watched the birds swoop down onto a building before flying high above Crocus. 

\--------------------------------------

“Ew ew ew ew ew!” Lucy shrieked. 

“Relax, Lucy,” Erza calmed, “It’s good luck when a bird poops on you.”

“You know I really don’t think you’re helping the situation, Erza.”

“I have bird shit on me!” Lucy continued to yell. 

\----------------------------------

Emi and Sting sat under the trees. Emi played with the grass and Sting laid down with his hands interlocked behind his head. 

“I’m really glad I got to spend the day with you, ya know.”

“Me too! This was fun.”

Sting closed his eyes and took in the slight breeze around him.

“It’s been so long since I’ve seen you, but it feels like today wiped that all away. I know you can’t really remember anything but I hope I was at least able to help a little bit.”

Emi leaned over so that her head was above his. 

“Are you kidding me? I remembered so much today! I don’t think I’ve had this many memories come back at once ever before.”

“Really?”

Without opening his eyes, Sting lifted his head as he started to sit up. The couple smacked their heads together, causing Emi to whimper and Sting to hiss. They both rubbed their heads before looking at each other. Emi gave Sting a small smile, and they quickly started laughing at each other’s bumps that formed. They both looked up to the sky and saw that it was getting dark out. Sting sighed before standing up and pulling Emi up. 

“I guess the time’s up,” Sting said with a defeated look on his face. “I better get you back to the inn before they start to worry.”

Emi giggled at how the dragon slayer was pouting before leading him to the Fairy Tail inn. They both stood outside the inn’s doors as they said their goodbyes. They stood in front of each other for a minute in silence and looked at each other, both wearing a small blush.

\-----------------------------------------

“Come on, Sting!” Lector yelled from behind a building. “Kiss her! Then she’ll remember!”

“Lector, please be quieter.”

\---------------------------------------

“Oh my god are they actually going to kiss?” Lucy asked in excitement.

“YES. I’ve been waiting for this!” Mira squealed. 

“I find this very interesting. I want to see how this plays out.”

\-------------------------------------

Emi and Sting continued to look at each other before Emi went closer to the dragon slayer and gave him a small hug. Sting stood there in shock before slowly returning the hug.

“Thank you for everything today. I think I’m really starting to remember. I don’t really remember a lot about us though.”

Sting smiled, saying, “That’s fine. I got time to spare.”

They looked at each other again and slowly started to move closer to each other. Emi’s eyes were clouded over, almost as if she was moving on instinct. 

“Well it’s about time you came back!” Natsu yelled as he burst through the doors. “You missed the party! I was hungry without the spicy cookies.”

Sting looked at Natsu, completely annoyed with the fire dragon slayer. Natsu looked at him before making “shoo” noises once again. Sting turned away and began to walk to his inn.

\----------------------------------

“NATSU YOU IDIOT!” Lucy screamed from behind the building. 

“They were so close!” Mira yelled through tears. 

\---------------------------------

“NO!”

“Lector, you need to--”

“He almost had it!”

“Fro thinks so, too!”


	33. Post Date

Lucy, Mira and Erza entered the inn a few minutes after Emi had been pulled in by Natsu. They looked so broken, which caused Emi to look at them with concern. Laxus stepped to Emi before drawing her attention to him by putting his hands on her shoulder from behind her.

“How’d it go?”

Emi turned around so she was facing Laxus, a huge grin on her face. 

“You’ll never guess what I learned today! Did you know that there’s a _third_ generation of dragon slayers? Apparently third generations have lacrimas and they were raised by dragons. Don’t you think that’s cool? Do you th--”

“I think he meant more of the _date_ portion.”

“Are you telling me,” Laxus asked, amused, “that this entire time you were asking him questions about dragons?”

Emi pouted and turned away from him before mumbling something. Laxus laughed to himself before telling her that she had missed a rather energetic “party” at the inn.

“Wait!” Natsu spoke up. “You went on a date with that guy?!”

Lucy looked at him and hissed, “She was trying to recover her memories, idiot.”

“Laxus!” Emi turned back to the lightning mage. “Is it too late to go exploring?”

Laxus laughed and led her out the door as Emi cheered in excitement.

“How are they _not_ a couple? I mean, look at them!” Gray exclaimed.

“Juvia agrees.”

\-----------------------------------------------------

Sting roughly opened the door to his and Rogue’s shared bedroom at the Sabertooth inn. 

“Alright you three, what gives?”

“It wasn’t my idea,” Rogue answered.

Sting huffed before looking at the exceeds.

“Then _who_?”

“I just wanted to see Lady Emiko, Sting! I wasn’t spying at all!”

Both dragon slayers looked at the exceed, showing that they didn’t believe him. The blond sighed before leaning down to Lector and patting his head. 

“I’ll make sure to bring you next time. Promise.”

“Were you going to kiss?” Frosch innocently questioned. 

Sting’s face heated up and immediately turned a bright red. He stuttered for an answer and looked to Rogue, signalling that he should distract the green exceed. Rogue just gave the blond a smirk as he stayed silent. 

\---------------------------------------

“You’re on the combined team, right?”

Laxus hummed as the two walked through the city, watching the lanterns that lined the otherwise dark streets. 

“I doubt I’ll be competing tomorrow though. I already had my turn.”

Emi smiled once she saw an ice cream cart and dragged Laxus over. 

“Ice cream, ice cream!” Emi sang. 

Laxus chuckled at the woman before ordering for the two of them. 

“This is great! I’ve had ice cream three times today.”

Laxus immediately snatched her ice cream away from her. Once she tried to take it back, he held it over her head. Emi started jumping for it, so he raised it to above his own head. Emi started to pout.

_“Three times?”_

Emi looked up at the lightning dragon slayer and smiled. Laxus looked at her quizzically. 

“If you let me eat this ice cream, I won’t have anymore for _two_ days.”

Laxus raised his eyebrows at the woman before slowly lowering the cone to a height where she could quickly snatch the ice cream back.

“If I see you even go near an ice cream cart in the next two days, I’ll put spiders in your shoes.”

Emi gasped, eyes filled with horror. 

“You wouldn’t,” Emi tried.

“Oh no,” Laxus playfully countered. “I would.”

\----------------------------------

Sting growled from on top of a distant building as he watched Laxus and Emi happily walk around Crocus. His eyes grew dark when she asked him to carry her, and he decided to head back to the inn when he saw her jump onto his back.

“You’re back earlier than expected. Have they already called it a night?”

_“We’re beating Fairy Tail.”_


	34. Return

“And now, the Naval Battle! All participants on the field.”

“I know you can do it, Lucy and Juvia!” Emi yelled from the stands.

Everyone smiled at the woman’s enthusiasm. Emi beamed when she saw that it was only Lucy and the new Sabertooth team member left in the bubble. All Lucy had to do was last the time limit and she’ll get at least second place, earning Fairy Tail valuable points. Emi frowned slightly as she looked at Minerva. She suddenly had a bad feeling. Her feeling proved right, as Minerva started to harshly and sadistically attack Lucy. Everyone in the Fairy Tail section looked on in horror. 

“Lucy!”

Everyone looked over to the Sabertooth balcony and saw that they were all smiling as they watched. 

_“Sabertooth.”_

After the pumpkin man stopped the match, Lucy’s body went crashing down to the ground. Chelia and Wendy quickly started administering medical attention until they could get her to the infirmary. The Fairy Tail team was on the field, protectively standing in front of Lucy as they approached Minerva. Sabertooth quickly made their way in front of Minerva. A staredown ensued. Emi looked down with tears in her eyes before rushing down to the infirmary. 

“Lucy…”

\------------------------------------------

“Natsu! Gajeel!”

Emi hadn’t left Lucy’s side since the incident, but she sprinted down to the tunnel that led to the arena. She leaned over as she tried to catch her breath. 

“Good luck.”

Gajeel grunted before walking down the tunnel. Natsu stayed behind and gave Emi a grin before turning towards the arena. 

“Natsu?”

The dragon slayer looked over his shoulder and waited for her to continue. He saw her looking at him with concern.

“If you’re here to tell me to go easy on them, I’m not listening.”

Natsu playfully blocked his ears and went to walk away again.

“Natsu, please. You have to win. For Fairy Tail. You have to do it for Lucy and for all of us.”

Natsu looked at her a little surprised and gave her a huge grin and a thumbs up.

“Don’t worry. I wasn’t planning on losing.”

Emi smiled and let Natsu enter the arena as she rushed back up to the Fairy Tail section. 

\--------------------------------------

“How’s Lucy doing?” Levy asked Emi as she sat down in her seat. 

“She’s still in rough shape, but she’s awake and cheering for Fairy Tail to win!”

“Emi,” Mira spoke up, “are you going to be okay with this?”

“Of course! I have no doubt in my mind that they’ll win.”

“I don’t think that’s what she meant,” Lisanna stated.

Emi turned around with a fire in her eyes and nodded towards the two, signalling that she was rooting for Fairy Tail with her whole heart. Makarov looked at the woman before making eye contact with Master Mavis, who looked on in amazement. 

“I admire her dedication, even if it means opposing her mate. That’s not an easy thing to do.”

\------------------------------------

It was a back and forth battle, each team taking turns overwhelming the other. 

“Come on Natsu! Show them what Fairy Tail can do!” Emi shouted from the stands.

\-----------------------------------

Gajeel looked at the stands before turning to Natsu, “ _Just_ you? Really?”

“What can I say, she obviously likes me better than you.”

Sting looked at the stands in confusion. _Seriously? She’s cheering for Fairy Tail?_

Sting and Rogue had done their white and shadow drive respectively. 

The air around them pulsed before they seemed to begin to increase their speed. Sting pounced towards Natsu as Rogue took on Gajeel. An extremely bright white light engulfed the arena.

“Holy Nova!” Sting screamed as he aimed the attack at the fire dragon slayer.

\-----------------------------------

Emi looked at the blinding light. Her head began to ache. She slowly turned her head to the Sabertooth balcony where the competitors were standing, watching the fight. She eyed the maroon exceed before she felt her heart speed up. _Bright white light? And...something red flying towards me._ Emi took a sharp breath before holding her head, causing the Fairy Tail masters to rush to her.

“Sorry. I’m okay. Things are just piecing together.”

They looked at her with concern before turning back to the match. Emi stood there and worked through the pain before she felt an immense pain shoot through her head. This pain was like nothing before. She couldn’t contain her screams. Emi screamed at the top of her lungs.

_“I’m Sting, and that little guy over there is Lector.”_

_“Come on, Em. You gotta come with us. You’ll love it.”_

_“Lector, what do you think? Up for another companion?”_

_“Em! I have a present for you.”_

_“Why don’t you try to sleep? You seem too tired to walk any further.”_

_“Hey, uh, did you maybe wanna go on a date with me?”_

_“Em, what are you worried about? You’re the strongest person I know.”_

_“You see those stars? They’re the Little Dipper.”_

_“Psst. Em, let’s go. We can totally ditch them.”_

_“You’re telling me you’re taking a job with Kira and not me? That’s cold.”_

_“So what do you say? Wanna join the guild?”_

_“I’ll always be here to protect you, so don’t worry about something so far fetched as dying on my watch.”_

_“Look, Em. I can totally fit a watermelon over my head!”_

_“Happy birthday! Lector and I got you this cool gadget thing. We, uh, didn’t really know what to get you.”_

_“I’m sure a kiss will make you feel better.”_

_“Laying here with you is the best, right Lector?”_

_“I’ve never seen Lector like someone so much. You should be honored.”_

_“Hey Em! Why don’t you move in with us? It’ll be like a sleepover that never ends!”_

_“Damn. This sucks. I tried to make it a great day and that stupid Ayame had to go and ruin it.”_

_“What do you think? I personally recommend the catmint for the necklace. It’s your favorite.”_

_“Do you think you coud just like...stay here for a little longer?”_

_“Stop teaming up on me! Lector! What happened to always being on my side?”_

_“I love you.”_

_“I love you.”_

_“I love you.”_

_“I love you.”_

_“I love you.”_

_“I love you.”_

_“I love you.”_

Everyone in Fairy Tail couldn’t even begin to process what was going on. Emi was folded over in immense pain, screaming so loud that the benches shook. She was bleeding from her nose, ears, and even her eyes. Nothing anyone could do was stopping it. They were all yelling and shaking her, but nothing was working. They saw that Natsu had defeated the opposing dragon slayers, but they didn’t cheer as loud as they wanted to.

\-------------------------------------

Sting and Rogue lay face down on the ground as they were beaten by the fire dragon slayer. They both groaned before Sting stopped moving completely. His ears perked up. He knew that voice anywhere. He heard the screams. They were so loud that they were hurting his ears. The other two dragon slayers looked around before Natsu shrugged and began walking back to the tunnel. Sting forced himself up, pain pulsing through his body. _Em…_

\------------------------------------- 

“Someone get her to the infirmary!” 

Macao quickly lifted the woman up and ran to the infirmary to Porlyusica. They all could tell she needed medical attention. Urgently. They burst into the infirmary, Emi still screaming. Lucy looked and her eyes went wide.

“Porlyusica! Emi needs help!”

Everyone in the room looked at Emi’s screeching figure and made room so that Macao could place her on an empty bed. Wendy immediately went over to her and tried to use her magic to heal her, but nothing was working. Porlyusica came over and placed a hand on Emi’s forehead.

“She’s burning up.”

“Ms. Porlyusica, what is happening to her?”

“She needs her rest. Let us be.”

Everyone that wasn’t injured left the room, leaving Lucy and Elfman. They all looked at Emi as she screamed and bled. Porlyusica made her swallow something and she eventually fell asleep. 

“What the hell was that?” Lucy asked as she looked at the now unconscious woman. 

Suddenly Laxus burst through the door, followed by the rest of the combined Fairy Tail team. Laxus scanned the room and rushed over to Emi when he spotted her. He turned to Porlyusica.

“What on earth happened? We could hear screams from the balcony. Gramps said that she suddenly collapsed and started bleeding. What did--”

“Hush, child. I don’t know the answers myself, so it’s pointless to ramble. Let me do my work.”

Laxus grabbed a chair from the corner of the room and brought it right next to Emi’s bed. He sat down and grabbed one of her hands. He looked at her sleeping figure and saw that she was still in pain. He growled and turned to the rest of the Fairy Tail wizards and snarled.

_“Out.”_

Everyone jumped back at the sudden hostility from the lightning mage before slowly backing up and shutting the door to the infirmary. Natsu was the only one who stayed. 

“Is she going to be okay?” Natsu asked from the door.

Laxus whipped his head around to Natsu and glared at him, daring him to stay after he told him to leave. Natsu made eye contact with Laxus before crossing his arms. 

“Hey, you’re the one who said I had an instinct to protect her. I’m just following it.”

Laxus huffed before turning back to Emi. She started to whimper and tears started to come back. They became a dull red color as they mixed with the blood. Laxus took off his coat and gently placed it on top of her as he continued to hold her hand. 

He looked at her and muttered, “I promised to protect you. What the hell am I supposed to do now?”


	35. Remember

“Sting, where are you going? We should return to the balcony.”

Rogue could see that Sting had a small stream of blood dripping from his ear, which troubled him. Sting was the first of the pair to be able to stand again after their defeat. Rogue noticed that he stood rather quickly and didn't have the strength to stay upright for long, let alone walk. Yet here he was, dragging Rogue towards an unknown location. 

“Where are we going?”

Sting’s ears were pierced with pain as he felt the blood drip down the side of his face. Rogue planted his feet and stopped the blond dragon slayer from going any further.

“Sting, I’m not going to be dragged somewhere when you won’t speak.”

Sting faced the shadow dragon slayer, ready to yell at him. Instead, he hissed as he fell to his knees. He could feel the overwhelming pain in his ears as he listened to her screams. Sting looked up to make eye contact with his partner.

“How can you _not_ hear that?”

“Hear what?”

“Seriously?!” 

Sting stopped yelling as he was hit with another wave of pain. Rogue watched as his partner continued to hiss, obviously extremely uncomfortable. He would suggest that he go to the infirmary, but there were two problems with that. The first was that Sting was on a one track mindset right now and would refuse to get any medical attention until he was finished with whatever he was trying to do. The other was that even if he agreed to go to the infirmary, Sabertooth didn’t have one. Master Jiemma believed that no member should ever be hurt enough to need one. 

“Sting, maybe you shouldn’t--”

Sting forced himself back up and weakly continued on his path. 

“Do what you want. I don’t care if you come or not.”

Rogue sighed before taking Sting by his side and helping him stand up. He let Sting lean to him in order to help him walk. The two started walking to an unknown direction, Sting wincing every so often. 

\-------------------------------------

“Damn. She’s loud.”

“Natsu!” Lucy scolded. “She’s in pain.”

“Yeah but like, how much pain is that to make her scream like that?”

Laxus stayed silent as he sat by the bed. 

“Hey Laxus,” Natsu started as he moved closer to the bed, “do you think that--”

_“Don’t touch her.”_

Natsu, Lucy and Elfman looked at him astonished. They had never seen the wizard so territorial. 

Porlyusica spoke up next, “Are you her mate, boy?”

“No, I am.”

Everyone looked to the voice to see that the twin dragons of Sabertooth were leaning in the doorway. Elfman stood up to say something when Natsu moved and stood in front of them, blocking Sting and Rouge from entering. Sting went to push through when Natsu crossed his arms.

“No tigers allowed!”

“What did you say, _fairy_?”

Lucy could sense the tension in the air and decided to speak up.

“Um, guys? Maybe not now.”

“Will you just let me through already? She going to start--”

Emi started writhing in pain and shrieked again, shaking the room. Natsu finally turned around from his position to look at her, and Lucy and Elfman had wide eyes once again. Sting hissed again and fell a little before Rogue steadying him. Sting used his free hand to cover one of his ears. 

Porlyusica looked at his bleeding ear before turning to Natsu.

“You would be wise to let the boy through.”

“What? Why would I do that?”

Laxus finally stood up from his seat next to the bed and appeared behind Natsu. He quickly picked him up and placed him down off to the side and nodded for the twin dragons to enter. 

“Hey!”

Sting slowly made his way over to Emi’s side and sat down in the seat Laxus had previously occupied. Just as Laxus did, Sting grabbed one of Emi’s hands. He started to rub her hand with his thumb. Emi started to calm down, her screams muted. Sting leaned towards one of Emi’s bleeding ears and whispered something. Her breathing steadied and her shaking stopped. Everyone looked on in wonder as they watched how thirty seconds with the dragon slayer seemed to help her more than the half hour they spent with her. 

“Porlyusica,” Lucy questioned, “what’s happening? Why is she calming down now?”

“She must’ve remembered the bond shared between a dragon slayer and their mate.”

“What the hell does that mean?” Natsu shouted. 

“It means,” Laxus irritably replied at the clueless dragon slayer, “that she probably recovered her memories.”

“No way! That’s super cool!”

They looked over towards Emi to see her start to mumble.

“S...Sting.”

Said dragon slayer softly smiled as he continued to rub her hand. 

“Should we, like, give them the room or something?” Lucy asked. 

“No way! I’m not leaving until Emi feels better!”

Emi’s grip on Sting’s hand tightened. She squeezed her eyes together before slowly opening them. She scanned the room to see Lucy, Natsu, Elfman, Laxus and Rogue. She looked at them all confused. She continued to scan the room, looking for someone. Sting let out a soft chuckle before gently squeezing her hand. 

“Looking for someone?” Sting asked playfully.

Emi quickly snapped her eyes towards the talking figure who she didn’t see before. She smiled before she started to cry. She sat up slowly and leaned over to the blond dragon slayer. 

“You’re bleeding…”

Sting puffed out his chest, declaring, “Oh this? This is nothing!”

Rogue rolled his eyes, remembering the immense pain Sting was in earlier. Emi’s eyes bore into Sting’s before he gently touched his ears. Sting hissed and tried to pull away on instinct. 

“Nothing, huh? You’re so reckless.”

She could feel everyone looking at her, so she lifted her gaze to the others in the room.

“Um, I’m really sorry for scaring you like that.”

“What even happened? Everyone said that you just collapsed and started bleeding and screaming.”

“Bleeding?” Emi lifted her hand up to her ears before pulling away and seeing dried blood. “I’m really sorry I made you worry.”

“So tell us!” Natsu shouted, making both Sting and Emi wince. “What did you remember?”

“Well, I really only remember the past four years. Since I was eighteen. I remember after Sting and I became, um, mates.”

Emi blushed as she spoke and turned towards Sting to see that he was asleep with his head by her side and his hand holding hers. Rogue decided to explain.

“He was beaten up pretty badly in the team battles, but he rushed over here right after. He could barely walk on his own, but he insisted.”

Emi smiled softly as she looked down at the sleeping dragon slayer. She started to rub his head as she looked back up to continue the conversation. 

“Figures. He has a lot of extra energy, so he can be hard to subdue when he puts his mind to something.”

Rogue groaned before responding, “Tell me about it.”

Emi looked down, her face holding a small frown. She seemed to be remembering something again, but she didn’t feel pain, signally that she had already been aware of it when her most recent memories resurfaced. She looked to Sting before addressing Rogue.

“You’re in the same guild as him. When did he join?”

Rogue looked up before telling her that he had joined around the same time he did about two years ago. Emi nodded.

“Wait! You mean he wasn’t always with Sabertooth?” Natsu and Lucy ask in unison. 

“He’s a fairly recent member. He joined as Sabertooth started to soar in power.”

“A strong guild, huh. I wonder…”

Everyone looked to Emi for her to finish, but they saw that she had turned her attention to the sleeping dragon slayer again. Her frown resurfaced as she spoke towards his unconscious figure.

“I’m sorry.”


	36. Dragons!

_“Dragons?!”_

Dragons had come through the Eclipse Gate and were currently attacking Crocus. The dragon slayers had split up to try to defeat them. Sting was currently face to face with a rather large dragon. Its wings folded down before flaring out again, which almost hit Emi.

“Em, get away from there!”

Emi held Lector as she watched Sting battle against the dragon.

“He’s going to alright, Lady Emiko. Sting is the strongest dragon slayer ever!”

Sting looked like he had an idea and quickly ran towards the pair before scooping them both up and sprinting in the opposite direction. 

“Sting, do you realize you’re running _away_ from the dragon?”

“I’m getting help.”

Moments later, Sting had dropped Emi and Lector next to Frosch, who was hiding behind some rubble. He looked at Rogue smiling before telling him that they’re a team and should defeat the two dragons together. Rogue complained a bit before agreeing. Emi and the two exceeds looked on from behind the rubble. 

“I’m scared,” Frosch whimpered.

“Don’t worry, Frosch,” Emi soothed. “Rogue and Sting are more than capable of fighting dragons. They’ll protect us.”

Sting and Rogue looked panicked when they realized that the dragons had spotted Emi and the exceeds. Sting bolted for the group.

“Em!”

Both dragons stood over her as she slowly turned her head up with wide eyes. 

“Em, do something! Don’t just stand there!”

Emi turned to Sting and yelled, annoyed, “I _can’t_ do anything.”

“What the hell are you talking about?!”

“I _can’t_.”

Sting looked at her in horror before yelling at Lector to grab her and fly somewhere safe. The two dragon slayers continued to battle before the dragons started glowing. They eventually disappeared as Natsu had destroyed the Eclipse Gate. Sting ran over to the gate as he saw that Lector had flown Emi over to Laxus. 

\-----------------------------------

“You’re not hurt are you?” Laxus asked as he looked her over quickly for injuries. 

Emi assured him that she was fine before looking at the wreckage. She felt Sting come to a skid behind her before grabbing her shoulders.

“Why didn’t you do anything back there? You could’ve gotten killed!”

Emi looked at him before her anger boiled over.

“How many times did I have to say I couldn’t!”

“You had time. You could’ve at least cast a protection spell or something other than just stand there!”

“I’m not a wizard, Sting! _I can’t do anything.”_

Sting looked at Emi before blinking a couple of times while keeping his mouth open. 

“What? Did you forget that?”

“I didn’t forget anything, Em. But I think _you_ have.”

Emi huffed before turning her back to him and walking to see if Natsu was alright after crashing into the gate. 

“Do you seriously think you’re not a wizard?”

Emi abruptly stopped and stood eerily still for a second before slowly turning around to face him. Everyone else seemed to be just as shocked as her, and they watched Sting for his explanation. 

“Em, you’re _definitely_ a wizard.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“I can prove it.”

Sting cautiously walked over to Emi, careful to see if she would let him do anything in her irritable state. He carefully took her arms and held them above her head. Everyone started to blush and tried to look away at the fairly intimate position he had put her in. 

“Now interlock your fingers and face your palms upwards,” Sting explained as he guided her fingers into position. 

Emi looked to her shoulder to where Sting had set his head. She went to ask him what he was doing, but was silenced when he started to whisper in her ear.

“Repeat after me: rupti sunt.”

Emi shivered at their closeness before echoing the words that he said. Sting suddenly and quickly took a few steps back as Emi’s hands started to glow. A quick burst of light shot out from her palms before it exploded in the sky.

“Fireworks?” Emi questioned.

“Holy shit! Emi can use magic!” Natsu shouted.

“It’s one of you ‘recreational spells’ of whatever you call it.”

“I can...use magic?”

Sting stepped in front of her before crossing his arms. 

“Now I’ll ask you again. _Why_ didn’t you do anything?”

Emi looked at her hands in astonishment before letting out an excited squeal. 

“I can do magic! I’m a wizard! How did I not know that?!”

Sting sweatdropped as he looked at the pure shock that had taken over her. 

“You really...didn’t know?”

“Of course not! I totally would’ve been using tons of magic if I knew I could.”

“So, Emi, does that mean that you could actually use magic the whole time you lived as a non-wizard?” Lucy asked.

“I guess so,” Emi responded as she thought back. She quickly turned to Laxus and laughed, “Laxus, look! I can use magic!”

The lightning mage laughed as he pointed out that everyone could see. Emi turned to Sting and hugged him tightly. He could feel a few teardrops slip down his clothes. 

“Hey,” Sting whispered as he stroked the back of her head, “how come you’re getting so worked up about this?”

Emi continued to cry and whispered back, “All these years I thought I was useless. That all I was good for was cooking and crafts, but it turns out that I’m a wizard. I’ve read countless books on magic in the hopes of being able to someday use it, but I could never get any of the spells to work. I can’t believe I would forget something like that.”

Sting squeezed Emi as they held each other. He hummed before releasing her. 

“I could be your personal tutor then.”

“What?”

“Well, Lector and I know most of your magic so we can help you remember more.”

Sting and Lector looked at each other before they both turned to Emi and gave a pair of lopsided grins. 

“Teach me another spell!”

Sting and Lector seemed to be thinking of another easy one to show her. Lector then looked like he had an idea and whispered it to Sting before they both gave each other a thumbs up. Sting pointed up to the moon.

“Hold your hands so that they block the moon from your sight. Next open your hands and form a triangle with your thumbs and index fingers.”

Emi did as she was told before looking to Sting for further directions. 

“Repeat after me: luna stillare iussi.”

“Luna stillare iussi.”

The moon began to turn a purplish color before a thick purple fog appeared above the group.

Lucy started, followed by Erza and Gray.

“No way.” 

“That looks like…”

“...the Moon Drip.”

“You guys know the spell?”

Erza nodded to Elfman before explaining their time on Galuna Island and how the Moon Drip spell affected the demons on the island. 

“It’s a type of nullification magic, but the fog affects the demons.”

Emi couldn’t shift her eyes away from the magic circles that formed from the moon. The magic circles slowly disappeared and the fog lifted. 

“Hey guys…”

Everyone turned to Emi curiously. She abruptly turned around and showed the stars in her eyes.

“I can do magic!”


	37. GMG Final Battle

A few hours later, Emi was able to get the all clear from Porlyusica to leave the infirmary. She woke Sting and whispered something in his ear. He nodded before standing up and grinning. 

“Come on, Rogue! We have to get back.”

“You’re just going to leave?” Rogue quizzed. 

“We have to check on Frosch and Lector, right?”

Rogue looked at Sting suspiciously before agreeing and leaving with the newly energized dragon slayer. 

“Emi?” Lucy tested.

“Are you doing alright, Lucy? You look a lot better than before.”

“Um, yeah I’m fine. But...are you?”

Emi quickly threw the blankets to the side and swung herself so that she was sitting up with her legs hanging off the side of the bed.

“Of course!”

Natsu ran up to her and questioned her, “So you’re all better then?”

Emi beamed and put her fist in the air and nodded enthusiastically. 

“So does that mean you can make spicy cookies?!”

Lucy smacked Natsu on the back of the head and told him that she should be given a short time to fully recover before doing anything, especially cooking. Natsu whined before exiting the infirmary. Emi jumped off the bed and crossed the room to Laxus. She stood in front of him before clearing her throat in order to draw his attention. His gaze lowered to see that she was standing in front of him with arms spread wide. 

“Well?”

Laxus rolled his eyes before letting Emi hug him. Emi smiled brightly and tightened the hug. She quietly let out a “thank you” that only Laxus could hear. 

——————————-

“Why are we leaving so suddenly? Don’t you want to be with her? She just got her memories back.”

“I know,” Sting answered cheerfully. “Which is why we need to leave!”

Rogue stopped walking and expressed his utter confusion. Sting waved him off and continued walking. 

“Should you at least get your ear checked out? I’m sure that woman would look at you.”

“Nah I don’t need it. I’ll be fine.”

“Sting, you’re literally bleeding through your ears.”

“Hurry it up, Rogue!”

—————————

“Natsu! Gajeel!”

The two dragon slayers perked up at the sound of their names. Natsu’s face lit up when he saw Emi run towards them with a plate of cookies. 

“I can’t even express how sorry I am about Natsu making you do this,” Lucy apologized. 

Emi smiled brightly and gave Natsu the plate before turning to Lucy and giving her a quick hug. Lucy stood there as she tried to process what was happening. 

“Uh, Emi? Is everything alright?”

Emi smiled and nodded before stepping away from the celestial wizard. Laxus chuckled from the far corner of the inn.

“She’s just giddy because she can remember. Just leave her be for now.”

“Laxus! Let’s sneak into the flower gardens. I can show you the catmint!”

“I might be a dragon slayer, but I’m not an idiot.”

“Hey!” Gajeel and Natsu yelled.

\---------------------------

“Lector, you want to go for a walk? I think we could both use some air.”

“Sting, will you be okay with the master?”

“Let’s not worry about that right now. Come on!”

The dragon slayer and exceed exited the inn, Lector following closely behind Sting. 

“Sting, where are we going? Don’t you think we should stay in the inn?”

“Lector!”

The exceed looked around to try to find the voice that called his name. He looked at Sting when he couldn’t locate the voice, and Sting pointed a couple buildings down to where a short figure stood. Lector’s heart stopped as he started to recognize the woman. Sting urged him to keep walking so that they could meet the figure. Once they stood in front of the woman, she opened her arms wide and smiled.

“Lady Emiko!” Lector shouted through a flow of tears that slipped down his face. 

The two hugged for a couple minutes before Lector pulled away and floated in front of the woman. He squeezed Emi’s cheeks, as if checking to see if she was real. The white haired woman gave a small giggle. Lector turned back to Sting and saw that the dragon slayer was laughing as well. They both had their signature child-like smiles, which Lector instantly copied. 

“When did you remember?”

Sting answered with another question, “Did you hear that big scream during my match?”

Lector nodded before gasping, “That was Lady Emiko?! I would’ve helped if I had known.”

Emi let out a small titter and assured the exceed that she was fine before returning his face squeeze on his cheeks.

“You both better stop that before you start to turn blue.”

Lector and Emi looked at each other with a mischievous glint in their eyes before moving over to the dragon slayer, Emi squeezing one cheek and Lector pinching the other.

“Hey! Come on guys, knock it off. You’re making my face hurt.”

The pair let go and watched as Sting rubbed his face. The three of them couldn’t stop laughing.

\-----------------------------------------

“That’s strange.”

“What is it, Levy?”

“I just find it weird how her memories were recovered in a big bunch like that.”

“What do you mean?”

“She instantly remembered memories from an entire year, but she doesn’t remember anything before that.”

“Maybe it takes time? I mean, it took this long for a year of memories to resurface. Maybe it just comes back in bursts.”

“You’re probably right, Lucy.”

Emi skipped into the inn, wearing both a cloak and a radiant smile. She happily wandered over to Laxus and jumped on his back.

“You sure seem happy.”

“You’ll never guess what I got.”

Laxus looked over his shoulder and faced the woman before prompting her to continue. Emi jumped off his back and stood in front of him before unfastening her cloak. She stood there proudly as she revealed her new outfit. It was a white outfit consisting of a two level dress which was long in the back and short in the front. The back of the dress formed a point on its tail. She wore white thigh length socks and a pair of black knee height boots. There was soft yellow detailing on the dress, forming a phoenix on the chest area. Everyone looked at her outfit in awe. Some of the guys started staring a little too long, which caused Laxus to glare at them until they looked away. 

“Where’d you get that?” Lucy asked.

“I used to wear this before I lost my memory. Isn’t it pretty? I loved wearing this.”

“I agree,” Erza chimed, “I find it very pleasing to the eye.”

Mira giggled before adding, “Maybe a bit too pleasing to the eyes of the guys in this place.”

\------------------------------

“I’m a member of Sabertooth, too. Remember?” Lector spoke up as he revealed his guild crest to Master Jiemma. 

The master stated that there was no room for weaklings in the guild, and was aiming an attack at the exceed. Lector seemed to have disappeared, which triggered something in Sting, causing him to attack and defeat the Sabertooth master. Minerva revealed that she had saved Lector just in time, but she wouldn't give him back until he won the games for Sabertooth. 

“Lector…”

\------------------------------

“And now, it’s finally time for the final day of the Magic Games to commence! This will be an all-team battle. The team who has the most points after this final contest will be declared the winner.”

Emi sat up in the stands with Levy and Lisanna. She was conflicted - she wanted to enjoy watching Fairy Tail win, but she couldn’t stop thinking about any possible danger Lucy was in. She hoped that Natsu and the others could rescue her before something bad happens. She looked to where Frosch and Lector usually sit and took notice of the missing exceed. _That’s weird. Wouldn’t Lector want to be here?_ Emi eyed the empty spot for a moment before turning to watch Sting walk out onto the field. She noticed the cold look in his eyes. Almost a dull look. _Something is wrong._ Emi leaned over a pillar and looked at him closer. He was devastated. _Don’t tell me…_

The final competition started, and everyone in the crowd was going wild. Emi pushed her concerns aside and went to cheer for Fairy Tail, but found them not moving. 

“What are they doing?”

First Master spoke up, “They’re following a plan I devised. It should ensure victory.”

“No way! That’s so cool! How do you know when people are going to move? How do--”

“Now now, child. We must watch to see how it unfolds.”

Fairy Tail had begun to move, and they all darted off in different directions. Emi watched in wonder at how Gray was able to defeat Rufus by using his memory against him. She kept looking between all the lacrima to see if she could spot Sting, but he didn’t show up anywhere. A frown came onto her face.

“Hey Emi,” Lisanna spoke up, “I think your dream battle is going to happen.”

“Huh?”

“Laxus and that lightning god slayer guy, Orga. They just crossed paths.”

“Come on Laxus. Kick his ass!”

They all watched in shock as Orga was taken out in one blow by Jura.

“Holy shit.”

“He is one of the ten wizard saints. It can be expected that he’s that powerful.”

Emi looked at Laxus and silently prayed that he wouldn’t be too injured. Everyone gasped when Jura was defeated by the lightning mage. Emi got up on the pillar and started cheering her heart out. 

“Well,” Mavis commented, “it seems her enthusiasm hasn’t faltered. Even with her recovered memories, she still stands against her mate. It’s quite an unusual turn of events.”

Cana overheard the Master and asked her to elaborate.

“You see, when a dragon mates with their partner, there is a bond that is formed. Their mate becomes the dragon’s purpose in life. Dragons will do anything to protect their mates. The mates themselves are tied to the dragons in a way. In other words, there is a silent agreement of loyalty for both parties.”

“Way to go Laxus!”

Everyone looked at the white haired woman before sweat dropping. 

“Hey guys,” Emi implored, “have any of you seen Sting at all? He appeared once and then never showed up again.”

\---------------------------------------

It was the final battle: Sting versus the whole Fairy Tail team. Emi looked on, still worried about the blond dragon slayer. He seemed to be driven by something, but nothing that seemed good. 

“I give in.”

The whole arena gasped before they cheered for Fairy Tail. Everything fell into place when Milliana came out holding Lector. Sting and Lector started crying as they ran to hug each other. 

\------------------------------------

“Lady Emiko!”

Emi turned around to see Lector flying towards her. She held out her arms and braced herself for his impact. 

“Lady Emiko, I’m so glad to see you! I thought I’d never see anything again.”

“Sting, what is he talking about?”

“Master Jiemma attacked him during our meeting and Lady Minerva saved him, but would only release him if I won the Games.”

“Oh no,” Emi gasped as she pinched Lector’s cheeks. “You must’ve been so scared.”

“No way, Lady Emiko. I’m not scared of anything! I’m brave like Sting.”

“Let’s get out of here,” Sting interjected. “It’s been a long day.”


	38. Ball

Sting and Emi walked behind everyone else as they all made their way to the castle.

“What other spells do I know? What type of magic do I use? Why don’t I remember being able to use magic if I remembered the past year? Can you teach me more spells? Why--”

Sting placed his hand over her mouth, earning a couple of laughs from the wizards walking in front of him. 

“Laxus!” Emi suddenly yelled before jogging to catch up to him. 

Laxus looked at the woman before asking her to continue. 

“Will you please carry me? My feet hurt.”

Laxus stopped walking before crossing his arms.

“Absolutely not. Walk.”

Emi mirrored his actions before defending, “I almost died.”

“Yeah? So did I. I fought a dragon. If anything, _you_ should be carrying _me_.”

The group had walked around the two of them while they continued their staredown. By that time, Sting had caught up to them and picked Emi up and started walking away. 

“Hey!”

“If you wanted someone to carry you so bad, all you had to do was ask.”

“Oh yeah! Sting, will you please carry me?”

Sting put Emi down on the ground before standing with a hand on his hip. 

“I don’t know, Em. I don’t really like being your second choice,” Sting countered playfully. 

Emi looked up at him before giving him a quick peck on the cheek and jumping on his back. Sting instinctively steadied her legs as they wrapped around his waist. The woman placed her head in his neck and laughed. 

“What’s so funny?”

“Just thinking about how Fairy Tail is so going to kill me for fraternizing with the _enemy_.”

Sting laughed with her.

“Guess I’ll just have to kidnap you then.”

The king spoke as all the wizards gathered around him, “I want to thank you all for all the work you’ve done to protect this city. I will be holding a ball for celebration and thanks.”

“I want to dance with everyone!”

\---------------------------

“Mira, I don’t really think I really look natural in this dress,” Emi complained. 

“What are you talking about?”

“I mean, it’s just so different from what I usually wear. It looks...forced.”

“Nonsense!” Erza interrupted. “You look very stunning in that dress.”

\---------------------------

“Has anyone seen Natsu? I want to celebrate with him!” Sting exclaimed while holding a couple of drinks.

“Hey, Emi,” Gray said as he stood next to her with his hand out, “would you like to dance?”

Emi blushed a little before taking his hand and agreeing.

“What the hell is he doing?” Sting growled from across the room. 

“Were you not listening to her when the king announced this ball? She wants to dance with everyone here.”

Sting huffed as he continued his search for the fire dragon slayer.

“Emi,” Elfman started, “can I be your next dance?”

Emi and Elfman started dancing. She then danced with Bickslow, Macao, Wakaba, Jet, Droy, and even Romeo. She looked to the iron dragon slayer and approached him. He spoke up when she reached him. 

“Don’t even think about it. I don’t dance.”

“Please Gajeel. Just one dance. It can be short.”

“I’m not testing your mate.”

“He can deal with it for one dance.”

Gajeel groaned as he was pushed to the dance floor by Levy. Once they finished dancing, Emi danced with everyone from Quatro Puppy, Blue Pegasus and Lamia Scale. She was just finishing up her dance with Rufus before she skipped over to Orga. She then approached Rogue. 

“Can I dance with you, Rogue?”

Rogue blushed before looking over at his partner and saw that he was glaring at him. Rogue smirked before agreeing to dance, leaving an annoyed Sting at the table.

“That bastard. He’s doing this on purpose.”

\-------------------------------

“She hasn’t danced with two people. And I’m pretty sure they’re going to cause tension.”

“Who are they?” Lisanna asked Mira.

“The two lovers: Laxus and Sting. I hope they don’t destroy the place.”

\------------------------------

Emi stepped in front of Laxus and looked up at him. 

“Well?”

“I don’t really think that’s a good idea, Em.”

“What? Why not? Do you not want to dance with me?”

Laxus sighed before making eye contact with Sting from across the room. Emi followed his gaze to see Sting angrily stuffing his face at the buffet table. 

“Don’t worry. I’m saving the last dance for him.”

Laxus let out a “hmm” before slowly leading her to the dancefloor. 

\--------------------------------

“I can feel the tension. This is scary.”

“Oh god. Could you imagine what a fight between dragon slayers would be like? Not like a competition, but a _real fight_.”

\------------------------------

“I wanted to thank you for everything that you’ve done for me in the past years. I cannot express enough how much I appreciate it and how much I enjoyed our adventures.”

“You know, you’ve done a lot for me as well.”

Emi looked up at the lightning mage.

“How? What did I do?”

“You’re the reason why I’m back in Fairy Tail.”

“You mean how they followed me to the house?”

Laxus laughed before smiling at her as they swayed. 

“Not just that. You helped me realize that I was being an asshole before. Plus you kind of kept me in line, which is something I’m not all that used to.”

Emi laughed and squeezed the hand that they were holding. 

Laxus looked down and gave Em a warm smile.

“Hey Em?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m going to miss you.”

Emi looked up at Laxus with a shining smile before their dance ended. Once they had pulled apart, Laxus held her head in his hands and gave her a small kiss on her forehead. Emi blushed a little before hugging the lightning mage.

\--------------------------------------

“That was so cute!” Mira gushed. 

“Yeah but I think that it didn’t go over well.”

Mira turned to Lucy before following her gaze to a pissed looking Sting. He had crushed a glass in his hand as he seethed at Laxus and Emi. Lucy could see that his hand was cut up and bleeding. 

“Uh oh.”

“This is why,” Gajeel started, “I didn’t want to dance with her.”

Levy stepped by Gajeel’s side. 

“I read up on mating since we found out about her relationship with Sting and found that dragons and dragon slayers can be extremely territorial. Because of their dragon instinct, dragon slayers are even more territorial around other dragon slayers. This may lead to fighting, and if a mated dragon fights on the behalf of their mate, it usually ends up being a fight to the death.”

“You don’t think that…?”

“It may very well be the case. If a dragon senses the mating bond weaken, there is no telling what will happen.”

\-------------------------------

“Hey Sting, she’s coming this wa--”

Rogue had noticed the small trail of blood that flowed from Sting’s hand.

“ _Why_ are you bleeding?”

“Did you not see what that guy did?”

“Sting, it held no romantic intentions. At all. And I think everyone except you can tell that.”

“Whatever.”

Emi appeared in front of the twin dragons and held her hands together. Rogue decided to leave the two alone and went off to check on Frosch. The two stood there in silence before Emi’s eyes drifted towards the blond’s hand.

“Oh no, you’re bleeding! How did that happen? Are you okay? How did you even manage to--”

“Are you going to ask me to dance already?”

“First of all,” Emi scolded, “I want to make sure that you’re not too hurt. Second, I believe _you’re_ supposed to ask _me_.” 

Sting huffed before taking her hand and yanking her to the middle of the room. Unlike any of the other dances, Emi’s arms wrapped around Sting’s neck as he held her hips. They swayed as they spoke.

“So? How come you’re bleeding?”

“It’s nothing.”

“Oh? It wouldn’t happen to be the fact that I’ve danced with everyone?”

Sting turned his head to the side, and Emi could see the blush on his face.

“I don’t want anyone to get the idea that they can just--”

Emi silenced the dragon slayer once she placed her head on his chest. He placed his head on top of hers and gently tightened his grip on her waist. Emi giggled as she started to whisper something.

“You now, you don’t have to hold on so tight. I don’t plan on leaving again.”

“Just in case. I don’t think I’d be able to take it.”

\----------------------------------------

“They _have_ to kiss this time,” Mira stated.

“I wouldn’t get your hopes up. It doesn’t seem like they have any intentions of doing so.”

“Erza, stop being a buzzkill. She has to kiss him because Laxus kissed her.”

Lucy spoke up, “Yeah but didn’t she _just_ regain her memories? Don’t you think it’s a little soon?”

“Of course not! True love has no timeline!”

\-----------------------------------------

Sting leaned down and continued to whisper.

“Hey Em?”

“Hm?”

“I just wanted to make sure you knew that I lo--”

“Lady Emiko! You forgot to dance with me!”

“Fro wants one, too!”

“Now that you mention it,” Panther Lily added, “I wouldn’t mind dancing with you as well.”

“Aye sir!”

Sting let out a low growl before Frosch started to tug at Emi’s dress. Emi smiled down at the adorable exceed before she stopped her dance with Sting. She scooped up the exceed and slowly spun with Frosch in her hands. Lector landed on her head and smiled as they spun. Emi bent down and picked up Happy and Panther Lily as she continued to “dance” with all of them.

\-------------------------------------------

“NO!”

“Mira, we all know it was bound to be interrupted again.”

“This just isn’t fair.”

\------------------------------------------

“Everyone, the king is coming!”

Everyone looked upwards at the balcony to await the king’s entrance. The doors open and revealed…

_“NATSU?!”_

“Bow down to the king!”

“Natsu, get down from there! You’re going to get us in so much trouble.”

“As king,” Natsu stated, making everyone sweatdrop, “I wish to have a special dance with someone. So…”

Fairy Tail waited for Natsu to make his demand in order to get him to get down from the balcony. 

“I want Emi to dance with me!”

Sting’s mouth dropped open. 

“Is he serious?! Natsu!” Lucy screamed.

Natsu gave a hearty laugh before jumping off the balcony and landing in front of Emi. He held out his hand to the overheating woman. Emi hesitantly accepted and Natsu tugged her to the dancefloor.

“Hey Natsu? Why did you want to dance with me?”

“You said you wanted to dance with everyone, right? I’m just making sure you get your wish.”

\--------------------------------------------------

Sting gritted his teeth and sat down as he watched his idol dance with his mate. 

“This is stupid. When will this ball be over?”

Rogue stood next to Sting and smirked, “Don’t worry. She’ll be all yours again once it ends.”

“I was supposed to be her last dance!”

“You’re telling me you don’t like how happy she looks?”

Sting glanced over at the dancing pair and noticed the large smile that stretched across Emi’s face. She was laughing at something Natsu said. She looked so happy. Sting’s eyes softened before sighing and agreeing.

\--------------------------------------------------

Natsu smiled wide, asking, “So is that a yes?”

“It’s a yes.”


	39. Magic Circle Formed

After the ball, the competing teams decided to stay in Crocus for a little longer. Sabertooth had appointed Sting as the new master, and he made sure to rebuild the guild to make sure that Sabertooth held the same values as Fairy Tail: a guild is supposed to care about each other. 

Emi woke up one morning to a chilling sensation. She jolted out of bed to see that Laxus had poured a pitcher of ice water on top of her. 

“Laxus!”

The lightning mage smirked before putting his hands up, “You weren’t waking up. I had to do something.”

Emi grabbed the pitcher from his hands and threw what was left of the water onto the wizard. 

“Hey!”

“Emi! Come down here for a second,” Makarov yelled up the stairs. 

Emi walked to the living space of the inn, Laxus following close behind. They both entered the room and saw that everyone was staring at them.

“Um,” Lucy started, “why are you both soaked?”

Emi looked to Laxus and they both laughed after making eye contact. 

“That...doesn’t really provide an answer.”

“Emi!” Levy shouted as she ran to the woman. “I think you’re going to want to hear this.”

Emi followed Levy to a stack of books that sat in the back of the room. 

“I might’ve found a way to recover all your memories.”

Everyone gasped. Emi leaned over to look at the book that Levy had open. _Nullification of Curses: A Journal for the Cursed._

“Cursed? You think I was cursed?”

“It’s worth a shot, right?”

Emi nodded to Levy before she briefed the woman on the process that she would have to do. 

\-----------------------------------------

“What’s up? It’s not everyday that Fairy Tail invites Sabertooth into their inn.”

“Sting! You’ll never guess what we found!”

Emi ran to the Sabertooth master and held both his hands. Sting laughed at the woman’s enthusiasm before asking what she was so excited about. Levy decided to answer.

“We might've found a way to recover her memories.”

Sting looked at Levy and turned to Emi and smiled. 

“Well? What are we waiting for?”

“We wanted you to be here,” Laxus spoke up.

“Let’s do this! Ready, Em?”

Emi cheered before she put her fists in the air. 

\-------------------------------------------

“Okay. Emi, you’re going to feel...a little weird while this happens.”

“What are we even doing? Why is there a circle?”

Levy turned to Lucy and explained the situation.

“This magic circle is a restoration circle. We’re all going to stand inside the circle and hold our hands together to form a link. Emi will sit in the middle, which will trigger the circle to activate. If it works, we should be transported into Emi’s mind and unlock her memories. The only thing is that we would all see her life play out through her memories. Emi, are you sure you’re okay with that?”

Emi looked to the ground and frowned. She then walked to the middle of the circle and sat down. 

“Just promise me something.”

Everyone nodded.

“Please...don’t hate me.”

Natsu spoke up, yelling that they could never hate her. Emi nodded and told everyone to get into position. The circle started glowing once everyone held hands.

“Here we go!” Levy yelled.

All the wizards were sucked into the circle, leaving a slight glow to the white markings on the floor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a short chapter to set up what's coming next. Are you ready for some memories?


	40. Memories Begin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone, sorry for the delay with some of the chapters. Get ready for some memories! I don't know exactly how long the memories will end up being in terms of chapters, but so far it's pretty long, so be prepared. Enjoy!

_“Momma! Look at what I made.”_

_A woman with light blond hair turned to face the child and asked to see her creation. Emi handed over a small necklace made with blue and purple flowers._

_“Now where did you have the time to find all these pretty flowers, sprinkle?”_

_“I found them on the other side of the hill!”_

_“Well they’re very pretty.”_

_“You already said that, Momma!”_

_The mother laughed as she turned to the stove where dinner was cooking._

_“Momma, can I help?”_

_Emi’s mother scooped the little child up in her arms and held her on her hip while she continued to cook._

“That’s...my mom?”

Lucy stared at the blonde woman, saying, “She looks so much like you, Emi.”

\-------------------------------------------

_“Papa!”_

_There stood a man with brown hair and silver eyes. He was currently chopping wood in what seemed to be the family’s backyard._

_“What is it, sprinkle?”_

_“I found this!” Emi yelled excitedly as she held up a rusty sword._

_The father gasped before quickly taking the sword away from her._

_“Where on earth did you find this? It could be very dangerous to hold a weapon.”_

_“Arthur and I found it in the lake! Now we can rule Camelot like the book says!”_

“Ar...thur?”

_“You two will always keep us on our toes. That’s for sure. Where are his parents?”_

_“They went on a job. Don’t worry, Papa! He’s staying with his grandma.”_

Emi thought back to her fairy tale book. She remembered that she was always drawn to the story of King Arthur, but she never knew why. 

\-------------------------------------

_“You see this one? That’s a calendula. It’s actually edible and has a little spice to it.”_

_“Wow, Arthur! How do you know all this stuff?”_

_There were two children sitting at the bottom of a hill. The boy, Arthur, had green eyes and orange hair that stuck up._

_“It’s all in this book, see?”_

_The boy motioned over to a green and yellow book that contained different pictures of flowers of all kinds. Emi’s eyes sparkled as she quickly leaned over the book to read about all the different flowers. Arthur laughed before shutting the book._

_“Why would you do that? I was just starting to read.”_

_“You have to get home for dinner, Em.”_

“‘Em’? He used that name, too?”

Laxus and Sting looked at each other before turning back to the two children walking hand in hand back over the hill and to the village. 

“Em? You okay?”

Emi nodded slowly before that memory faded away and another one took its place. 

\--------------------------------------

_“But I don’t want to wear a dress!”_

_“Sprinkle, it will only be for an hour. Then you can change into your clothes and we can take you out for ice cream.”_

_Emi started to run around her room as her parents tried to catch her to put on the dress._

_“You can’t make me!”_

_The father was able to get a hand on Emi as he cheered, “Gotcha!”_

_“No Papa! Don’t make me wear it!”_

_“Don’t you want to look pretty for Arthur?”_

_The little girl blushed before she slowly stopped squirming in her father’s arms._

_“Just one hour, Momma?”_

_“Just one hour,” the woman repeated._

\------------------------------------------

_Arthur and Emi were at their favorite spot on the hill. They looked to be around four._

_“This is so stupid. Why can’t I choose who I want to marry?”_

_“Arthur, do you not like Angela?”_

_“Not at all! She always laughs at you and makes you feel bad.”_

_“But I’m okay, Arthur. It doesn’t hurt me that much. Your parents want you to marry so you can leave the village and be happy.”_

_“I’m not marrying anyone unless it’s you!”_

Emi blushed at the memory, taking in the boldness of her childhood friend. 

\------------------------------------

_Emi looked up at the sky as she played with Arthur. The boy said that they were late for dinner and that they should head back to their village before it got dark out. Emi happily agreed and took the boy’s hand and started running._

_“I’ll race you there!”_

_The two children ran all the way to the hill that sat right behind the village. Once the two made it over the hill, their eyes widened._

_“Oh no. What’s happening, Em?”_

_Emi looked at the village in shock. She immediately started to run for her house at the center of the village. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing. There in the center of the village was an extremely tall looking creature. It had large hands and horns. Emi looked up at the monster as she was running and she saw a green laser beam shoot out of its mouth before turning to powerful flames as it hit multiple houses._

“I’ve seen this memory before,” Emi suddenly stated. “It’s from that day. The day that the demon destroyed my village.”

Sting looked over to see that she had started crying.

Emi saw a couple starting to run out of their house.

_“Momma!”_

_The couple turned their heads to see their daughter before telling her to run as far away as possible. Just then, another green laser was shot out of the monster towards Emi’s house, completely destroying it. Smoke clouded the girl’s vision as she tried to look at the destruction. Once the smoke cleared, all she could see was her house almost disintegrated and her parents lying motionless on the ground._

_The girl turned her head when she heard her name being called and saw the boy running towards her._

_“Em, you have to get away from there. That thing will kill you!”_

_The girl couldn’t look away from the sight of her parents’ bodies. Arthur had made it to Emi and grabbed her hand before running in the opposite direction._

_“Momma! Papa!” Emi screamed._

_The two continued running away from the monster when a figure appeared in front of them._

_“Well hello kiddies,” the figure giggled._

Levy and Emi looked at the figure with wide eyes. Before finishing each other’s thoughts.

“That looks like…”

“Assassin!”

“Who’s that?” Lucy asked.

“A shadow demon of sorts,” Levy explained. “He has the power to control you.”

Rogue looked at the demon for a second before looking down at his hands.

“Don’t worry, Rogue,” Emi soothed. “I already looked into it. Your shadows aren’t like that.”

The group watched as the memory played out. 

“Why is a high level demon attacking your village? Why work with such a low-rank demon like Delorca?”

Emi couldn’t take her eyes off the memory.

_“Be wise and hand over the girl.”_

_“Never! Go away and leave our village alone!”_

_“I guess I’ll just have to kill you then.”_

_Arthur put his hand in the air, a sword appearing out of nowhere._

“Hey Erza, isn’t that your magic?”

“It is indeed.”

_“Oh ho ho. The little rat can use magic. This should be entertaining as I watch you hopelessly fight.”_

_“Arthur!”_

_“I promise you,” Arthur started as he turned to her one last time, “I won’t let anyone hurt you as long as I’m alive. You can count on that.”_

Emi and Sting looked in awe at the promise that the boy had made. They were the exact same words as Sting’s promise to her. Tears started falling as Sting reached out for her hand. Emi couldn’t watch the rest of the memory play out, feeling what was about to happen. She turned to Sting and placed her head in his chest as she sobbed. 

_“Arthur!”_

_Suddenly, a wail of pain could be heard before silence clouded the scene._

_“ARTHUR!”_

_Emi could hear her past self screaming and crying before another scream was heard. This one sounded deeper._

“It’s over, Em.”

Emi let go of Sting and faced the memory again.

_The little girl opened her eyes to see a man standing over her. He was carrying a sheathed sword._

_“Hey, kid. Sorry I was a little late.”_

_Emi looked up at the man, telling him that she didn’t know who he was. The man laughed._

_“Of course you don’t. We’ve never met.”_

_“Why did you come here when there’s a monster here?”_

_“That’s exactly why I came, kid.”_

“Cain? He was there that day?”

“That’s strange. Why would he come?”

_“So Assassin. It’s been a long time, hasn’t it **buddy**?” Cain sarcastically questioned. _

_“You!” Assassin hissed before trying to lunge at the man._

_“Tsk tsk. Hasn’t anyone told you to respect your superiors?”_

“Su...periors?”

Emi looked on at Cain as he spoke to the demon.

_“You’ll pay for this, Cain. They’ll surely find you and destroy you! You trai--”_

_Cain’s sword interrupted the demon’s screeches, successfully decapitating him. His head had fallen on Cain’s shoe._

_“Great,” Cain complained, addressing the dead body of the Assassin. “Look what you’ve done. You dirtied my shoes.”_

_“Mister?”_

_Cain turned back to the little girl. He bent down and patted her head._

_“I have a place that’ll be safe for us.”_

_“Momma and Papa?”_

_Cain looked out over the village as it burned._

_“They’re dead, kid. Time to move on.”_

“Jeez,” Natsiu commented. “That’s super harsh.”

“Delorca and Deliora are related, right Emi?” Gray questioned.

“Supposedly. I’m not entirely sure. That’s what one of my memories said at least.”

Gray looked at the monster as it continued to destroy the village.


	41. Cain?

_“Mr. Cain, why did you save me?”_

_Cain had stopped walking and sat down near a tall tree. He motioned for the little girl to sit next to him in the shade._

_“Think of it as my good deed of this lifetime.”_

_“Good deed?”_

_Cain hummed before he laid down._

_“Get some rest, kid. We have a long journey ahead.”_

_“I can’t sleep without my blankie.”_

_Cain leaned up and gave a “seriously?” before groaning and laying back down. He slowly took off his cloak, revealing a pair of black pants and a white shirt. He was wearing a cross around his neck, and his arms were all bandaged. He placed the cloak over the girl and laid back down._

_“Now get to sleep, kid. Use that as your blanket.”_

\-------------------------------------

_“You need to learn magic, kid. You gotta protect yourself.”_

_“How do I do magic, Mr. Cain? I’ve read so many books, but I still can’t cast a spell.”_

_Cain walked over to Emi before telling her to turn around. He touched the back of her neck and mumbled something before a small blue light came from her eyes._

_“Now,” Cain said as he smirked, “which magic would you like to learn?”_

_“Can I really use magic now? What did you do?!”_

_Cain put his finger to his lips and made a “shh” sound before replying, “It’s a secret.”_

_Emi started to ramble about her new ability when she was stopped by Cain’s next question._

_“Well? Which magic? You can try Requip magic, time magic, elemental magic--”_

_“What’s elemental magic?”_

_Cain thought for a moment of how to explain it before answering, “It’s basically magic of the earth’s natural elements. Dragons teach heightened elemental magic to people called dragon slayers, but regular wizards can use it, too.”_

_Emi still looked confused, so Cain decided to list a couple._

_“You know. Water, fire, wind, earth, shadow, light, steel, lightning, ice. Stuff like that.”_

_Emi’s eyes sparkled._

_“Can I learn dragon slayer magic?”_

_“You can’t learn that without a dragon, kid.”_

_“What other kinds of magic are there?”_

_“Nullification magic, burst magic, memory magic, creation magic, sealing magic…”_

_“What’s creation magic?”_

_Cain motioned for Emi to sit down and face him._

_“Creation magic is the root of all Make magic like Ice make and Memory make. You’re able to create a spell using your mind. Creation magic is more powerful than regular Make magic because you’re not limited to your memory or solid plans. You can--”_

_“I want to learn creation magic!”_

_Cain looked at her slightly annoyed._

_“Hey, kid. You gotta let someone finish before you speak!”_

“Creation magic? Levy?”

“He basically touched on all the basics that you need to know. It’s known as something more versatile than Memory make magic and more powerful than Ice make, as it’s not limited to only one element.”

“So in other words,” Natsu interrupted, “Emi can totally kick your ass, Gray!”

“What did you just say to me you little punk?!”  
\--------------------------------------------

_“You ready to test it out?”_

_“Yes, sir!”_

_Cain took a seat by the base of the mountain while he waited for Emi to start casting her newest spells. Emi placed both her hands upwards and spread wide as she whispered something._

_“Cataracta.”_

_Suddenly, water started to flow from the top of the mountain, forming a small waterfall. The water slowly faded away until only drips fell._

_“I did it! Did you see that?” Emi yelled excitedly._

_Cain shouted from his place at the bottom of the mountain, “Your form was off and you didn’t put enough magic power into it. That’s why it disappeared. Try the other one.”_

_Emi grumbled before putting her right hand up and rapidly moving her hand in a whirlpool motion._

_“Turbinis!”_

_The dust on the ground started to twirl in a circular motion before wind started to violently push itself around an epicenter, forming a tornado. After a few minutes of watching the tornado to see if it would disappear, Cain found that she was able to hold the spell. He motioned for her to release the spell, and the wind slowly died down until it was a slight breeze. He smiled at the top of the mountain where she stood proudly._

_“Good job, kid. That one was much better.”_

“Holy crap, Emi!” Lucy stated in astonishment. 

Wendy turned to Emi and shared her thoughts as well, “Ms. Emi, that was incredible. That’s more powerful than my wind spells.”

“Nonsense, child,” Charle spoke up, “your sky drill holds just as much power.”

“See Em?” Sting quietly spoke to the woman. “You’re a very powerful wizard.”

Emi looked on, eyes twinkling.

\---------------------------------------

_“Why do I have to eat everything with hot sauce, Mr. Cain?”_

_The two were sitting in a shack that they had found while exploring._

_“If you learn to tolerate things that should incapacitate you, you’ll become stronger. So for every meal you eat, you’ll be adding hot sauce.”_

_“But why? I don’t like hot sauce.”_

_“The more you have it, the more you’ll build up a tolerance to it.”_

Laxus and Sting looked towards Emi with side smirks on their faces. Emi looked to the two of them before blushing and apologizing for making them eat the hot sauce meals she cooked for them over the years.

\------------------------------------------

_“I’ll kill you!”_

_“Now now,” Cain silenced the figure standing in front of him and Emi, “that’s not anyway to speak to someone like me.”_

_“Mr. Cain?”_

_“Cain? Cain Sato? That can’t be true.”_

_Cain sadistically smirked before unsheathing his sword. Faster than a blink of an eye, Cain’s sword had flashed out of its sheath and sliced the figure in half at his abdomen. Cain held the figure’s head in his hands._

_“Didn’t I say not to speak to me? Pathetic.”_

_“Mr. Cain?”_

_Cain turned to the sleepy child._

_“Don’t worry, kid. I took care of him. Go back to sleep.”_

_“Okay. Goodnight Mr. Cain.”_

“Did you...see that?”

Emi looked at the figure on the ground before looking back up to see Cain slowly sitting in front of the girl protectively and falling asleep. 

Cana commented, “And I thought Erza had quick movements. Damn.”

\----------------------------------------------

_“Mr. Cain, why do we have to keep running? I don’t want to run anymore.”_

_Cain looked over at the little girl before sighing and leading them to an abandoned village._

_“We’ll stay here, okay? We can continue your training and hide at the same time.”_

_“I want to go to a place where I can play with the other kids. I want friends.”_

_“Friends only weigh you down. Once you have someone you feel you need to protect, it’s all over.”_

Everyone looked on in confusion at the man’s words.

“What is he talking about?” Nastu yelled annoyed. “Friends make you stronger because they’re people you want to protect!”

_“But Mr. Cain--”_

_“You don’t ever want to get attached to someone, kid. It’ll only hurt more when they die.”_

_“But if I get strong enough then they won’t die.”_

_“I wish that were true.”_

Emi seemed to sadden at these words. She looked at Cain before the memory faded away. She turned towards her friends and smiled at them.

\------------------------------------------------

_“Ad deum!”_

_A blinding light engulfed the abandoned town, turning the dark of the night into pure brightness._

“Hey,” Rogue spoke, “that’s kind of like your Holy Nova, right Sting?”

Sting nodded as he watched the child version of Emi produce the same light he is capable of. 

_“Kid, I thought I told you to get to sleep!”_

_“I just wanted to try out the new spell. I’ll go to sleep after.”_

\----------------------------------------------------

_Cain breathed heavily as he stood in front of Emi. He let out a low growl._

_“I dare you to try to do that again.”_

_“Don’t worry Sato, I’ll take nice care of her once you’re out of the picture.”_

_The figure laughed maniacally before running at the two. Cain was able to grab both arms of the attacker to hold him in place._

_“Now kid!”_

_“Dagger Strike!”_

_Multiple knives had appeared and pierced the attacker all over. He screamed as his skin was punctured and eventually grew quiet when both his eyes were cut out. He fell to the ground once a dagger pierced his forehead, killing him on impact. Emi looked over at the figure before back to a bleeding Cain._

_“You idiot, you got me too.”_

_Emi rushed over to Cain’s side and gently pulled out a dagger that had stuck into his arm. Emi gave the man a lopsided grin for acknowledgement of a successful attack._

_“Yeah yeah. You did good. Now hurry up and heal me.”_

_Emi placed her hands over the wound and whispered an incantation. A soft blue glow hovered over the wound before disappearing. The wound had completely disappeared._

“Emi, how did you do that? I didn’t know you could heal people!” Happy exclaimed.

Emi looked back to her younger self and shrugged her shoulders.

“I didn’t even know myself until right now.”

\----------------------------------------------

_“I’m going to drop you off at the next village and then we’ll go our separate ways, ‘kay?”_

_“But Mr. Cain, why would you want to do that?”_

_“You’re in danger the more time you spend with me.”_

_Emi ran up to the man and stood in front of him before sternly speaking._

_“I don’t care. I want to stay with you.”_

_“Kid, you gotta listen to me on this.”_

_“No! You can’t make me! And even if you do leave me, I’ll make sure to find you!’_

_Cain sighed before messing up her hair._

_“I don’t really think you understand the whole ‘traveling with a war criminal’ type of thing, do you?”_

“War criminal?”

Emi looked at the cloaked man before having a sinking feeling in her stomach. Could he…?

\--------------------------------------------

_“It’s him! Cain Sato, the B--”_

_“Sayin’ something, boy?”_

_“You monster! Look what you’ve done to this village!”_

_Cain looked around at the burning village and turned back to the man before him._

_“I didn’t do this,” Cain explained calmly. “Someone else did this. We’re just passing through.”_

_“Even if you didn’t do it, your friends did!”_

_Cain let out a sarcastic laugh before looking the man dead in the eyes._

_“They aren’t my friends. People like me don’t have friends. Now do you want our help or not?”_

_“Help? We could never accept help from someone like you!”_

_“Mr. Cain!” Emi yelled as she ran to him. “I was able to evacuate the townspeople to the mountain.”_

\------------------------------------------------

_“Mr. Cain! We have to help them!”_

_“Dammit.”_

_The two sprinted towards the burning village to see that a large monster was on the path of destroying it._

_“Is that Delorca?”_

_“No,” Cain stated, “that’s Deliora. Delorca’s kin.”_

_Emi looked towards the village before her eyes hardened._

_“Let’s hurry.”_

_Once Cain and Emi had arrived at the village, she had to look as Deliora killed several innocent people._

Gray looked around at the memory and his eyes went wide.

“Gray, what’s wrong?” Mira asked.

“This is…”

_“Mr. Cain! There’s a boy over here!”_

_Emi looked over to Cain to see that he was faced with a woman with black hair._

_“Mr. Cain?”_

_Cain didn’t move his eyes from the woman as he spoke._

_“Get the boy and bring him to this woman. Quickly.”_

_The woman spoke, “Why are you helping? Shouldn’t you be destroying the village as well?”_

_“Sorry lady, I don’t do that shit anymore. If you were looking for a show then I’m sorry to disappoint you.”_

_Emi quickly took the boy’s hand and brought him closer to Cain and the woman._

_“Don’t worry. You’ll be just fine. Don’t be afraid.”_

_Emi handed the boy over to the woman and smiled at her._

_“My name is Emi. What’s your name, miss?”_

_The woman looked between Cain and the girl before responding, “My name is Ur. Thank you, child, for saving this boy.”_

Gray stood eerily still as he looked at the memory. Everyone was in shock. Emi smiled softly before turning to the ice wizard. 

“So I guess this means we already met? I’m glad I could meet you again.”

“...Yeah. Thanks, Emi. A lot.”

The two smiled at each other as the memory changed again.


	42. The Blue Demon

_“It’s him! The Blue Demon!”_

Everyone’s eyes snapped towards the memory, ready to see what the high-level creature looked like. They were left with shock as they watched the memory play out.

_“Damn,” Cain cursed. “Looks like you found me. Now what?”_

_“We kill you.”_

_“Listen buddy, I don’t feel like hurting anyone. Why don’t you just let us pass and we can go on our peaceful way.”_

_“The Blue Demon, Cain Sato. What a wonderful sight indeed.”_

_Cain looked towards the approaching man._

_“What do you want, man?”_

_“Surrender yourself to the Magic Council. We’ll make sure to take good care of that girl. You’ve obviously brainwashed her.”_

_Cain laughed before turning towards the group with a smirk on his face._

_“Now, didn’t I tell you I didn’t want any trouble?”_

“Emi, is it true? Is Cain really the Blue Demon?”

Emi nodded slowly as she tried to take all the information in. Her memories were all piecing together. Levy had commented that she had read about the Blue Demon in one of the many books she gathered for research.

“Apparently, the Blue Demon is ranked higher than everyone else in the Book of Zeref except for the Sins. He has powerful flames that won’t go out no matter how much you try to extinguish them. He was known to bring down nations on his own, but he suddenly disappeared from all records.”

_“Mr. Cain, are you alright?”_

_“Come here, little girl. We will help you escape from that creature.”_

_Emi looked back to Cain and hugged his arm tightly before asking what he was talking about. When the man responded by saying that he was helping her get away from the demon, Emi looked at the man with fire in her eyes._

_“I will never leave Mr. Cain. Go away.”_

_“Kid, get out of here and go hide.”_

_“No!”_

_“Fine, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.”_

_Cain formed blue flames in both his hands._

_“So what do you say, pal? Up for a beating?”_

_The opposite man drew his sword as he readied himself for a fight. Emi looked on before looking at the others to make sure they didn’t jump into the fight. Blue flames engulfed the man, causing him to drop to the ground while writhing in pain. Cain stood up straight and looked at the group of men that were traveling with the soldier._

_“Anyone else?”_

_The men started to scurry away as Cain called off the flames._

_“Hey kid, go heal him, would you?”_

_Emi nodded before treating the wounds caused by the flames._

“You can heal wounds inflicted by the Blue Demon’s flames? That’s unheard of.”

Emi turned to Levy before telling her that Cain had taught her how. They all looked as the wounds on the soldier disappeared, leaving the man unconscious on the ground.

_“We gotta hurry now, kid. Those guys will have the entire nation after us.”_

\------------------------------------------------

_“Cloak on.”_

_Emi copied Cain’s movements as he pulled the hood over his head._

_“Mr. Cain, look at all the pretty flowers!”_

_The two were currently in Crocus, and Emi was captivated by the flowers that were seen almost everywhere. Emi ran over to a flower cart._

_“Arthur would’ve loved these.”_

_“Kid! Stop running away.”_

_Emi turned to run back to Cain when she accidentally ran into someone, knocking them both to the ground._

_A small voice was heard, “Sorry about that. We weren’t looking where we were going.”_

“No way!”

_Emi looked over to the voice and saw a young boy with blond hair and a scar on his eye. There was a maroon cat on his head wearing a white vest. Emi smiled before standing up and helping the boy off the ground._

_“I’m sorry, too. Bye!”_

“We totally met before! Isn’t that cool?”

Emi looked at Sting and Lector to see that they were ecstatic. Emi laughed at the two of them before asking what they were so excited about. He said that it must’ve been destiny that they already knew each other. Lector cheered along as well.

\-------------------------------------------------

_“Where are we going now, Cain?” Emi asked, clearly annoyed._

_“We’re making a quick stop in Magnolia.”_

_Emi sighed before following the demon into town. They both had their cloaks on, and Emi was told to stay out of trouble._

_“I’m thirteen, Cain. I can handle myself.”_

_Cain simply laughed and told her that she was still too young to be able to completely protect herself._

_“Whatever.”_

_“Jeez. Who knew I’d have to put up with teenage attitudes.”_

_Emi had gone her separate way from Cain, who said he was headed to the center of town for medical supplies. Emi looked around the streets before making her way to a nearby park._

Sting groaned, “Oh, come on.”

_The teenager looked around before spotting a teenage boy with yellow hair sitting near a tree with headphones on._

“Hey, that’s Laxus!” Natsu screamed.

_Emi smirked before walking over to the teenager._

_“Are you a wizard?”_

_“Yeah, so what?”_

_“I can sense that you’re powerful. So what do you say, up for a fight?”_

_The boy looked towards the cloaked figure before smirking._

_“Oh definitely.”_

“You fought Laxus?!” Natsu continued to yell.

“Hey Sting,” Rogue slyly commented, “so does that mean that it was destiny for them to meet again too?”

“Shut up.”

_Emi and Laxus stood apart in the middle of a field. Laxus took off his headphones and crossed his arms. Emi kept her cloak on and copied his position._

_“Well? Are you going to attack me? I don’t have much patience.”_

_Laxus smirked at her words before charging at her with a lightning attack._

_“Lightning, eh?”_

_Emi dodged the attack with ease before forming a circle with her hands and aiming her attack straight for him._

_“Fluctus inpulsa!”_

_A giant shockwave of lightning erupted in front of the girl before flashing over to Laxus._

_“Damn. What the hell kind of attack is that?” Laxus yelled._

_Emi smirked before aiming another shockwave towards him. Laxus sent a lightning dragon roar at the hooded wizard, but it was quickly nullified._

_“Dispel.”_

_The lightning vanished completely. Laxus huffed before sending another roar which also quickly vanished at Emi’s command. Emi and Laxus ran at each other. Laxus went to use his lightning dragon talon, but was quickly stopped by a giant lightning sword that was placed at his throat._

“You beat Laxus?!”

“Natsu, please stop yelling,” Lucy pleaded.

“That is quite amazing though,” Erza spoke up. “It’s not everyday that you can say that Laxus was overpowered.”

Emi looked at the fight with confusion in her eyes. She turned to Laxus, but Laxus just smirked.

“Who would’ve thought that you were that girl who kicked my ass? You’re a pretty decent wizard, Em.”

Emi returned his smile and turned back to the fight.

_“Good fight, lightning boy. But I have to meet someone.”_

_Laxus was left in shock as he sat on the ground to try to process what had happened._

_“Kid! What the hell were you doing for so long? I told you to meet back up with me here in ten minutes and you were gone for a half hour.”_

_“Sorry, Cain,” Emi mumbled. “I was just blowing off some steam.”_

_Cain rolled his eyes before guiding Emi to a small restaurant._

_“I figured we’d be able to actually eat somewhere decent for once instead of cooking.”_

_“Hmm. How very thoughtful of you,” Emi responded sarcastically._

_The two sat in the back corner of the diner, cloaks still hiding any noticeable features on them._

_“What do you think, Happy? Up for more?!”_

_“AYE SIR!”_

“Is that...Natsu and Happy?”

_“Wow. They’re super annoying.”_

_“Pros and cons of eating in public I guess,” Cain said as he waved it off._

_“Hey you!” Natsu yelled._

_The pair turned towards the pink haired boy and waited for him to continue._

_“Why the hell are you wearing cloaks?”_

_Cain instantly responded with one of his excuses, “Bad hair day.”_

_Emi looked at him while rolling her eyes and crossing her legs under the table._

_“Really? That’s it? It’s nice out, so you should be letting the sunlight soak in!” Happy added as he flew over and landed on Natsu’s head._

_Emi’s curiousity couldn’t be contained and she turned to the cat, “Are you a cat that can fly and talk?”_

_“Aye sir!”_

_“If you excuse us,” Cain interrupted, “we would like to get back to eating.”_

_Happy and Natsu looked at each other before shrugging and walking back to their table._

“So you met Natsu and Happy before, too?”

“I guess. Damn, I was a moody teenager.” Emi laughed as she looked back at her memory.


	43. Prelude

_“Again!”_

_“Globus lumen!”_

_A ray of light shot out of Emi’s hands and formed a whip. Cain and Emi sparred for twenty minutes before Cain had gained the upper hand._

_“Pretty good, kid. You’ve improved a lot.”_

_“Well I would sure hope so. You’ve been traing me for ten years now.”_

_“Are you really fifteen already? Time really flies.”_

_Emi picked herself up off the dirt and brushed her cloak off before approaching the demon._

_“I think you should teach me that spell now.”_

_“Really? You think you’re up for it?”_

_“I’ve been waiting ten years for it.”_  
\------------------------------------------------------

“Wait! Why did it change? We didn’t get to see the new spell!” Natsu complained. 

“Natsu,” Lisanna said, “we don’t have any control over it, so we should just watch.”

_“You sure you wanna do this, kid? I can go take care of her myself.”_

_“No,” Emi sternly replied, “I need to do this myself. If you insist, you can stay nearby to watch.”_

_“I was gonna do that with or without your permission.”_

_The two approached a burning city, a large demon currently aiming green lasers at buildings before they erupt into flames._

_“Delorca…”_

_Emi slowly stepped so that she was in front of the demon. She made a “w” with her fingers and whispered the light spell._

_“Ad deum.”_

_A blinding light covered the demon who had lost her sight from the spell._

The group all watched as Emi battled Delorca. Gray looked on in horror.

“You tried to defeat a demon on your own? Do you know how dangerous that is!”

“Juvia thinks that Emi did fine.”

Gray whipped his head back to the memory to see Emi smiling as she wiped the blood off her face while standing on Deleroca’s dead body.

Laxus, Sting and Gray all breathed out a “holy shit” before looking at Emi to see that she was crying.

Sting immediately went back to her side.

“Hey,” the dragon slayer whispered in her ear as he hugged her, “what’s wrong?”

Emi turned her head upwards to look at the blond with tears in her eyes.

“I’m so happy. I’m glad I was able to defeat her. For my parents. And for Arthur.”

Sting smiled down at his mate before giving her one more squeeze and turning her around to see the next memory. 

\--------------------------------------------------

_“So now what do you wanna do? You defeated Delorca, which was kind of your goal in life. Have any other ideas? Maybe go after Deliora next?”_

_“No,” Emi started as she walked with him, “Deliora is someone else’s battle. I have no business with him, but those who he’s harmed do. I’m not taking away their battle.”_

_“Look kid, I’m gonna be honest with you. You’re going to be in a lot of danger because of--”_

_“Who you are and what I’m doing. I know.”_

_“Hunting demons is a very dangerous and reckless mission.”_

_“You seem to be doing it just fine.”_

_“Yes, well I’m also a demon myself. I have the techniques to use against them. Are you sure you want to be--”_

_“A demon slayer? Yeah. I’m positive.”_

_“You really gotta learn to let me finish,” Cain complained._

The group turned to Emi for clarification. She was still engrossed in the memory, so they turned to Levy. 

“If I remember correctly, a demon slayer is like a dragon slayer. Dragon slayers are trained magic to fight and kill dragons, and demon slayers are taught magic to take down demons. It’s extremely rare to be a demon slayer.”

“Do you have to be taught by a demon like we had to be taught by a dragon?” Wendy asked.

“Not necessarily.” 

\---------------------------------------------------------

_“Now where?”_

_Cain and Emi were laying in the shade of a rather large oak tree. Cain sat up and looked over at Emi with a smirk._

_“Well you defeated Winter and Summer, so now you have Autumn and Spring left of the Four Beast Elements.”_

_“Where would they be?”_

_“Let’s see,” Cain thought out loud. “Autumn usually stays in an abandoned village down south, and Spring hangs out in the rainforests to the east.”_

_“We’ll go to the east. I feel like getting some rain on me.”_

\------------------------------------------------------------

_“Magia kera!”_

_A magic circle appeared over the head of Autumn as all her magical power was sealed away._

_“How does a human know a spell like that?!”_

_Emi smirked._

_“I don’t really consider myself human. What do you think, Cain?”_

_Autumn looked around, “Cain? Cain Sota? He’s behind this? You bastard!”_

_Cain jumped down from a tree handing over the village and smirked._

_“See you in hell.”_

_“You’ll die for your sins, Blue Demon. You’re a traitor to us demons and you’ll be punished.”_

_“Fine by me.”_

_The final Element burned in Cain’s eternal flames as the two cloaked figures moved onto their next town._

Emi looked on in wonder. She had a soft smile on her face as she watched to see how powerful she actually was. 

“You defeated five demons?!” Natsu and Gajeel shouted.

Emi smiled, chirping, “I guess so!”

Sting smiled as he looked at the memory to fade away. 

\-----------------------------------------------------

_“Move!”_

_“Well well well,” an unknown voice drawled, “if it isn’t my old friend the Blue Demon. Say, how have you been? We should catch up about some things, no?”_

_“It’s about time one you assholes showed up, Envy.”_

_“Is that anyway to speak to your elders? I just wanted to drop in to see this supposed...demon slayer of yours. I have to say, she’s quite impressive.”_

_Emi growled from behind Cain, “Why don’t you come over here and see just how good I really am!”_

_“Kid, shut up!”_

_“You best listen to your little teacher there, girl. Know what’s best for you.”_

_“Why do you insist on hurting people? What does that accomplish?”_

_“Accomplish? Well for one thing, I achieve happiness.”_

_“You get happiness from murdering innocent lives?”_

_“I’m not the only one, dear. Your precious teacher here took great joy in bringing down several nations by himself.”_

_“If you’re trying to make me turn on him, it won’t work. I know how you work, Envy.”_

_“Oh ho ho. What a pleasant surprise. I see you’ve given her a quick guide to me then?”_

_“I don’t need a guide to know that I’ll defeat you.”_

_Envy and Emi began to fight. Envy used his signature thorn blade, known for its blades that can cut anything. Emi began to use her Dagger Strike spell, but the blades were quickly cut away. Envy smirked and brought the blade down to Emi. Blue flames erupted from between Emi and the blade, which melted the blade away before it could harm the girl._

_“Figures that you would try to steal all the fun,” Emi muttered._

_Cain turned back at her, scolding, “I just saved your life. You should be thanking me. Now drop that teenage sass and get to fighting.”_

_Emi smirked before rolling over and pointing to the sun._

_“Solar Spike!”_

_Rays came flying down from the sun before piercing Envy. The rays then exploded and melted the insides of the demon. Envy screamed in pain as he burned alive. Emi smiled before casting one more spell._

_“Fury bolt!”_

_A rather large lightning bolt came down from the sky and struck Envy. There were a few more screams until silence took over. Cain stood at Emi’s side and fist bumped her._

_“One down...”_

_“Six more to go!”_

“You beat a SIN?!” 

“Natsu,” Lucy hissed, “stop yelling at every memory we see.”

\-------------------------------------------

_“Kid, stay back!”_

_“Cain! Get away from there!”_

_“You gotta run, kid. I’ll hold them off as long as I can.”_

_“But you said that they were too strong when they’re all together. You said that they were higher than you and that--”_

_“GO!”_

_A giant laser was aimed towards Emi. The laser was blocked by Cain, who sliced through it with his sword. He was met with a giant snake lunging towards him. He jumped on top of it and decapitated it. Cain protectively stood in front of Emi and looked back at her._

“I’ve already seen this memory,” Emi muttered as she started to cry.

Sting held her into his side as he wrapped a hand around her waist.

_“Go. You have to live. I can’t hold them off forever.”_

_“But you’ll--”_

_“Everyone dies at some point, kid. I’ll be happy knowing that I did one good thing in life before I went.”_

_Emi started crying hard as she lifted her hood on and hugged Cain one last time._

_“I’ll be in your heart, kay?”_

_Emi sniffled before she started running as fast as she could. She looked behind her and saw that the whole group was aiming attacks at the man. He looked back at her and smiled before jumping into the magic. As Emi went further away, she couldn’t see what was happening anymore, but she heard a gigantic explosion and then everything went silent. She brushed her tears away and ran to the closest train._

“I don’t ever want to see that again.”

“Don’t blame ya, kid.”

Everyone looked around at the unknown voice. Their eyes all landed on a cloaked figure standing off to the side as they watched the memory.

“Um, hello?” Laxus implored. “How are you here?”

“I live here.”

“WHAT?!” 

“Natsu, what did I just say about yelling!”

The figure took off their hood to reveal a familiar face.

“Cain!” Emi yelled as she sprinted over to him.

Cain gave the woman a tight hug before pulling away holding her by her shoulders.

“You know, it took you long enough. I’ve been waiting here for years.”

“How are you in here? Isn’t this Emi’s mind?” Mira asked.

“Well I promised her that I’d be in her heart, but it seems I got lost and ended up here instead!” Cain said cheerfully. 

Emi looked at Cain and started crying, causing Cain to panic.

“Woah woah, don’t cry. I don’t know what to do when someone cries like that!”

Emi punched Cain in the arm lightly and wiped away her tears.

“It’s good to see you again.”

“Yeah well it’s not like I’ve been bored. I’ve been watching your life as time went on. I saw all sorts of things.”

At that, Cain made a smug look over to Sting.

“Uh?”

“All _sorts_ of things.”

Sting and Emi turned so red that they looked like apples, causing Cain to laugh.


	44. Let's Hunt Some Demons

_Emi had arrived at Lunal Village after a couple of hours on the train. She had finally stopped crying, but there were still tear stains on her face. She tugged her cloak tightly against her so she wouldn’t be seen or recognized. The woman had scurried over to the closest inn and booked a room to stay for the night. She sat in the corner and cried as she remembered the events that had happened a few hours back._

_“Cain…”_

\------------------------------------------------

_Emi was walking through the streets with a basket of apples as she made her way back to the inn that she was staying at._

_“Well hello there. I’ve been waiting for you for so very long. I would like to thank you for bringing me a snack.”_

_Emi turned around to see that a demon was sitting on her bed._

_“Which one are you?” Emi growled._

_“My my, very hostile today.”_

_“You killed my only friend. How would you like me to act?”_

_“Don’t worry, dear. Lust is here!”_

_“Fine. But don’t expect both of us to still be breathing at the end of it.”_

_Lust had teleported the two of them to outside the city so that they wouldn’t draw attention to themselves as they fought to the death. Lust made the first move._

_“Genesis!”_

_Creatures started to escape from the ground, all deformed from some type of animal. The animals came after Emi. A large snake lunged right for her._

_“So that was you back there, huh?”_

_Emi brought out the lightning sword that she had used against Laxus and quickly struck the snake in the neck. She turned around just in time to defend herself from a large hare with fangs._

_“Fissure!”_

_At Emi’s command, the earth began to shake._

_“Oh? A little earthquake would never stop me.”_

_Emi smirked before replying, “Good thing it’s not an earthquake then.”_

_Just then, the ground began to break apart and form a huge fault right underneath Lust, causing her to fall in. Emi continued with another spell._

_“Lava Valley!”_

_Lava started to fill the large crack that Lust had fallen into. Lust could be heard screaming near the bottom before it went quiet. Emi stood back up from her kneeling position and concentrated on one final spell._

_“Barrier of Elements!”_

_A soft blue glow enveloped the fissure before closing the crack completely, trapping Lust underground. Emi fell down to her knees in exhaustion from the last spell._

“I see you were able to use that spell afterall,” Cain commented.

Emi nodded before saying that it basically took all the energy out of her after she used it.

“Emi, that was so cool!” Wendy exclaimed.

“It was very impressive,” Erza agreed as she slapped Emi on the back. “I give you my highest praise.”

_Emi slowly got up and started to walk to the nearest train station to move onto the next town. She looked back at the welded fissure before looking up at the sky._

_“Two.”_

\--------------------------------------------------

_“How old are you dear?”_

_“I’m almost seventeen.”_

_“Just old enough for our special meal discount!”_

_Emi hummed in response before ordering a small bowl of rice and some soup._

_“Man that was some good beef!”_

“Hey look it’s me again!” Natsu exclaimed.

_Emi sat quietly as she ate her small meal when she was approached by the boy she had recognized from the past._

_“Hey you!”_

_Emi turned towards the boy with the scarf and asked what he wanted._

_“You’re that dude from before? Why’re you still wearing a cloak?”_

_Emi smiled to herself before using one of Cain’s excuses, saying bluntly, “Dog ate all my clothes.”_

_“That has got to be the lamest excuse ever!” Happy interjections._

Cain turned towards the blue exceed before saying that it was, in fact, a great excuse and that he had used it many times before. Happy just shrugged at the demon. 

_“Wait. Weren’t you a dude last time? Why don’t you sound like a dude.”_

_“I’m the one who was traveling with the **dude**.”_

_Natsu and Happy continued to stare at the cloaked Emi, making the girl nervous._

_“Um, is there anything else I can help you with?”_

_“Are you going to eat that?” Natsu asked as he pointed to the rice._

_“Yes!”_

_Natsu looked defeated as he gave a sad “oh okay” and walked away._

“Wow Natsu, that’s kind of pathetic,” Gray stated.

“Shut up, popsicle!”

“What did you just call me?!”

Cain coughed to draw attention to himself.

“Just remember you two, ice will always melt to my fire, and my flames can overwhelm a dragon’s fiery breath.”

The two immediately stopped arguing to face a smirking Cain.

“Wow, Erza,” Mira giggled, “looks like you have competition to see who can keep the two in line.”

\--------------------------------------------

_“Bow down before me, human! For I am the last one you’ll see!”_

_“Shut it, Greed. We’re supposed to take her out QUIETLY.”_

_Emi stepped out from the forest, cracking her knuckles,_

_“Greed and Gluttony. It’s about time.”_

_“We heard you took care of our friends Envy and Lust, so we decided to come here together out of curiosity.”_

_“Fine by me.”_

_“Let me take care of her myself, Gluttony.”_

_“You just want to take all the credit with the boss. Don’t be too greedy.”_

_“Tsunami!”_

_Both Sins jumped back in shock as a huge burst of water came out of nowhere._

_“How rude! How dare you start to attack us without us being ready to fight.”_

_“Sorry, I didn’t think manners would matter as you tried to kill me.”_

_“Now it’s my turn,” Greed said as he smiled brightly. “Void of Madness!”_

_Suddenly, Emi was engulfed by a dense fog before she was swallowed by a shadow and thrown into an abyss. The girl struggled to find which direction was which as she fell deeper into the abyss._

_“Dammit.”_

_“That’s right, darling! You’ll never escape. Say goodbye!”_

_Emi started her Virtue Hymn spell as she whispered the incantation._

_“Perdere lucem ac tenebras.”_

_A small white orb floated above Emi’s head before it continued to grow in size. The light slowly engulfed the darkness of the abyss before breaking the shell of the Void of Madness._

_“Impossible!”_

_“I read about that one in a book on holy and purification magic. Cool, right?”_

_“You bitch!”_

_“Hey, I’ll show you another one of them since you like them so much!” Emi smirked. “Divinity Surge!”_

_A light appeared in the form of a cross in the middle of the sky. It quickly shot rays of light towards Greed. As they started to hit him, his skin began to crack and crumble._

_“This spell helps to expel all things deemed unholy. It was originally created by a white dragon who used holy elemental magic, but I adapted it using old journals and studies so that I could use it.”_

Sting looked at Emi in awe as he witnessed her use a technique supposedly only usable by dragons and dragon slayers. He smiled to himself, making a note to ask her to teach him the technique later.

_Greed turned into dust as the final parts of him crumbled away. Emi looked towards Gluttony and stood up with her hands on her hips._

_“Well? Are you coming after me now, too?”_

_Gluttony smiled before he turned to walk away._

_“I’m very impressed, daughter of Cain. I’ll spare you our battle for another time.”_

_With that, Gluttony disappeared into the fog that had rolled through._

_“Three.”_

\-------------------------------

_“Would you like your usual?”_

_Emi sat in the corner of a bakeshop in the town of Crocus. She nodded as the waitress left to get her a slice of apple pie and a hot chocolate. The now seventeen-year-old wizard would come to this shop often, as they were rumored to have the best pies. Even though Emi had only tasted pies from a couple of shops, she would agree with the statement._

Sting looked around the shop, instantly recognizing it. He looked over to his usual table and saw that he and Lector weren’t there. 

_Almost on cue, the dragon slayer and the maroon exceed made their way into the shop. Emi’s ears perked up at the sound of the bell attached to the door. Her order was quickly brought to her table and she wasted no time in eating the pie._

“This is where we met Lady Emiko!”

Emi looked at Lector before smiling back at him. Sting looked over at Cain to see that he was giving Sting a sly side look. The dragon slayer quickly looked away from the demon in embarrassment. 

_Emi silently finished her pie and drink before slinking out of the shop. She turned a corner to an alleyway where she stood in silence before groaning._

_“He’s going to kill me once he finds out I let one get away!” Emi scolded herself._

“Were you talking about me, kid?”

Emi blushed before nodding, causing the demon to laugh before assuring her that he would rather her only take on one Sin at a time and that it would be reckless to try to take them on in a group. 

\-----------------------------------------------------

_Emi was back in the bakeshop, and Sting and Lector were already sitting at their usual table. Emi could hear the whispering between the two._

_“He comes in everyday at the same time and sits in that corner, Sting. Don’t you think that’s a little strange?”_

_“Maybe a little, Lector. But he seems harmless.”_

_“Then why do we come here everyday just to watch him?”_

_Emi rolled her eyes at the pair’s “discrete” conversation before leaving the shop._

“You could hear us?!” Lector shouted.

Emi looked over at Lector before nodding her head and giving a child-like grin.

“It made things interesting while I sat there. Though at the time, I was very irritable and couldn’t really enjoy them. I was still mourning.”


	45. Scary Meeting

_Emi sat in her usual spot and ate her usual food as she listened to the blond boy and his talking cat talk about absolutely anything. She could feel their stares, and she stood up once she couldn’t take it anymore. The girl stomped her way over to their table to confront them._

_“What the hell do you think you’re doing just sitting there and staring at me? You do it everyday and you should really learn to not get into other people’s business. You might **get hurt**. Now leave me alone or I won’t be nice anymore.”_

_With that, Emi quickly exited the shop._

_“He’s really scary, Sting!” Lector shouted through his tears._

_“No kidding.”_

_“We should go apologize to him so that way he’s not mad at us anymore so I can sleep tonight without worrying that he’s going to come kill me.”_

_“Lector, I don’t really think he’d go that far.”_

_“Still!”_

_Meanwhile, Emi had caught sight of someone she didn’t want to deal with at that time and quickly turned into an abandoned alleyway to get the fight out of the busy streets._

_“Your senses are very powerful, young lady. But you won’t be able to escape my power. It is impossible.”_

_“Let me guess, Pride?”_

_The woman laughed, confirming Emi’s assumption._

_“I’m in a foul mood, so let’s make this quick. I have a cat and a boy on my tail.”_

_“Fine by me. I’ll even let you have the first move to show you how powerful I am!”_

_Emi looked at the woman before smiling devilishly and saying, “Wrong move.”_

_The white haired wizard held her hands up and moved them in a circle as she cast her spell._

_“Shell of Divinity.”_

_Pride gasped at the sight of the holy barrier that had formed around the pair._

_“How did you--”_

_“You did say I could make the first move. Now you’re stuck in here.”_

_“The Shell of Divinity, an ancient purging spell that traps anything unholy in a sphere. It will burn those unholy when they touch the shell. No one even knows that the spell exists. How would you kn--”_

_“You can learn a lot from reading. You should try it sometime. Oh, I guess you won’t be able to.”_

_“Now who’s prideful?”_

_Emi smirked before taking advantage of the opportunity of Pride being distracted._

_“Ice missiles!”_

_Shards of ice were sent speeding towards the Sin, pinning her against the barrier and forcing her to touch the shell. Pride slowly started to burn as she finally cast a spell of her own._

_“Poison Judgement!”_

_Snakes were sent flying at Emi. She had no room to avoid the snakes because of the barrier, so three were able to puncture her skin, pushing venom into her bloodstream. Emi screamed in pain as the poison started to take effect._

_“Now be a good little girl and **die**.”_

_Emi lifted her head up and smiled sadistically at the Sin before forcing herself to stand. She put her hands on the affected areas of her legs and froze them using her Frostbite spell._

_“You’re...you’re freezing yourself? Why? That won’t do any good.”_

_“The blood will stop flowing, slowing the poison. Now,” Emi said while cracking her knuckles, “let’s finish this. Those idiots are almost here and I don’t want my cover to be blown.”_

_Emi placed both her hands facing towards Pride and whispered, “Petrification.”_

_Pride slowly turned to stone, sealing away all the magic power she had. Her soul was sealed in the stone’s form. Emi limped over and punched the statue with her fist and watched as it crumbled into pieces. She dispelled the Shell of Divinity and turned her attention to her wound._

_“Sanatio aqua.”_

_A small pool of water formed over her wounds as she pulled the poison out of her bloodstream. She was able to heal the wound completely before the dragon slayer and exceed caught up to her._

_“Four.”_

_She quickly jumped in front of Lector and a teenage Sting, who wore a startled expression as they laid on the ground. They looked up at her as she slowly took off her hood to her cloak, revealing her long white hair._

_“A...girl?”_

_“Yeah. I’m a girl. What else did you think? Now what are you doing following me?” Emi snapped._

_Sting couldn’t find any words, and Lector was cowering behind the dragon slayer._

_Emi looked at the pair with cold eyes before muttering, “You two are pathetic. Just like everyone else.”_

_The woman began to move away, pulling her hood over her head again._

_“Wait!”_

_Emi turned around and put her hands on her hips, asking the blond what he wanted. Sting quickly stood up and approached the woman before sticking his hand out to her._

_“I’m Sting, and that little guy over there is Lector.”_

_“Well, Sting and Lector, leave me alone.”_

_Emi whipped around and continued down the alleyway. Before she completely disappeared, she heard the two speaking with each other._

_“Sting, she’s wicked scary.”_

_“You think so? I think she’s pretty cool!”_

“So that’s what you were doing? You were fighting one of the most powerful entities in the Book of Zeref seconds before we introduced ourselves? And you just acted like it was nothing?”

Sting kept asking her questions, which caused Cain to start chuckling. 

“For someone who always made fun of the kid for rambling, you sure seem to be pretty good at it yourself.”

Sting began to pout, making Emi and Lector squeeze his cheeks. 

\-----------------------------------------

_Emi was currently sitting on a roof in Crocus as she watched the stars._

_“Cain, I promise you. I won’t let your defeat be in vain.”_

_“Hey kid! Get off the roof.”_

_Emi turned to see an aggravated blacksmith standing below her. Emi quickly stood up and jumped from the roof. She had her cloak over her head still, so he couldn’t see who she was. Emi slowly bowed her head to the man before apologizing and slipping into the night. After walking for a few moments, Emi had spotted a small ice cream stand that was still open. A childish energy took over her otherwise cold exterior as she rushed over to the stand to order. She was served a cone which Emi took with no hesitation. As she ate her ice cream, she walked down the dark streets of the city._

_Someone bumped into her, causing her to be pushed to the ground. She looked devastated as she stared at her ice cream that fell on the stone road._

_“Oh man. I’m so sorry. We didn’t look where we--”_

_The blond and the exceed fell silent as they looked down to see the cloaked woman from before. Lector immediately hid behind Sting in fear. They both gulped._

_“Sting, we’re dead.”_

_“It was nice knowing you, Lector.”_

_“What the hell do you think you’re doing? First you stalk me in a shop and follow me down an alleyway. Then you have the balls to ruin my dessert?”_

_Sting and Lector looked towards the ground to see the fallen ice cream before Lector started to cry in fear._

_“Hey,” Sting started, “I can buy you ano--”_

_“Forget it. Leave me alone.”_

_Sting stood there in shock and fear before running to catch up to her. He walked by her side as he spoke._

_“I mean I could also get you your next piece of apple pie? Or maybe you want something different? I could get you--”_

_Emi suddenly turned to face him before she grabbed his collar._

“Damn, Emi. You were totally scary! I think you could give Erza a competition!” Lucy exclaimed. 

Emi looked at the group and gave an embarrassed smile before they all turned back to the memory. 

_“I don’t socialize with humans.”_

_Sting looked at her confused._

_“Aren’t you...a human?”_

_“I lost my humanity a long time ago,” Emi muttered. “Now leave me alone.”_

_Sting continued to walk beside the cloaked teenager, and Lector was perched on his head for protection. Emi looked at the both of them._

_“ **Why** are you still following me?”_

_Sting answered smoothly, “Just wanted to make sure you got back to your place safely. Crocus can be a pretty weird place at night.”_

_“Are you suggesting that I can’t handle myself?”_

_“Sting,” Lector whispered in his ear, “let’s go before she really gets mad.”_

_Sting looked up at Lector before whispering back, “We can’t leave her alone at night, buddy.”_

_“But she said she can handle herself, and I don’t think I can doubt that at all. Her stare could defeat whatever lurks in the shadows.”_

_“You know,” Emi snarled. “I can hear you.”_

_They both whipped their heads to an angry Emi. She had her hands on her hips, and they could see from under her hood that her eyes hardened even more. Sting took a step forward and crossed his arms._

_“Sting! What are you doing? Let's get out of here!”_

_“I’m not leaving you alone until I walk you home.”_

_“You’re convincing me even more that you’re a stalker who just wants to know where I live.”_

_“I’m not leaving from your side until you agree.”_

_“Fine then,” Emi stated, making Sting give her a victorious smile._

_Sting went to continue walking with her, but looked back at the woman to see the outline of a smirk under her hood. She stood in a battle position in the middle of the road._

_“Um, what are yo--”_

_“Ice missile!”_

_Spikes of ice came flying at the dragon slayer, pinning him to a nearby wall. Lector quickly flew over to the trapped Sting, trying his hardest to pull the spikes out. Emi turned and continued walking along the empty street._

_“Now leave me **alone**.”_

“Wow Sting,” Rogue commented, “you were as much of an idiot then as you are now.”

Sting was blushing as he watched the memory of Sting squirming in the spikes’ grasp. 

Mira spoke up while giggling, “Well it seems the two of you got off on the wrong foot. How on earth did you manage to get to where you are now?”

Everyone looked at the memory as it faded, showing Emi taking one glance behind her before making her way to the inn.

\-------------------------------------------------------

_Emi walked down the busy streets of Crocus towards the medical supplies shop. She had used the last of her supplies in the fight with Pride, so she needed to restock. Emi looked around when she heard a whine and followed the sound through the crowds._

Rogue looked on in shock as he saw the cloaked Emi kneel down in front of a crying Frosch. 

_“Um, why are you crying?”_

_“I lost my friend,” Frosch yelled out through the tears._

_Emi smiled softly at the exceed and slowly took off her hood, revealing her comforting smile._

“How come you took off your hood so readily for Frosch but not for us?” Sting complained.

“Frosch needed a comforting figure, and someone in a cloak would probably cause more fear.”

_“I’ll help you look for them if you want.”_

_Frosch immediately agreed to her help and they started walking hand in hand through the crowds. The exceed’s eyes lit up once they spotted Rogue looking frantically for his friend._

_“Fro found him!”_

_Emi looked down at the exceed before smiling and removed her hand from their paw. She slightly pushed the exceed towards Rogue before putting on her hood and disappearing into the crowds._

Frosch looked at Emi before exclaiming, “You’re the nice lady!”

Emi laughed and nodded before giving a small smile to Rogue. 

\-----------------------------------------

_Emi slinked into an alleyway with her ice cream, careful not to drop it through the crowds._

_“Why is this city always so crowded?”_

_“It’s the flower capital of Fiore. Of course it’s going to be crowded.”_

_Emi whipped her head to the unknown voice and saw the dragon slayer from before._

_“What did I say about following me! Go away!”_

_“I promise I wasn’t following you. I lost my little buddy and I smelled him over here. Honest.”_

_Emi huffed before muttering that people need to watch their cats better. She gave Sting a suspicious look before walking away. She stopped and turned around to him curiously._

_“Smell?”_

_“Yeah. I can pick up on scents.”_

_Emi completely ignored his answer and asked him where she could find the bookshop. Sting smirked as he came up with a deal._

_“I’ll tell you what. I’ll tell you where the bookshop is if you help me look for Lector.”_

_“I’ll find it myself,” Emi grumbled before turning out of the alleyway._

_“I know we didn’t really have a pleasant introduction, but I would like to still get to know you.”_

“Wow Sting,” Gajeel stated, “you’re very persistent.” 

“Shut up.”

_“Well I don’t now go away.”_

_Sting had grabbed her wrist as she began to move again. Emi looked down at his hand before glaring at the dragon slayer._

_**“Let go.”**_

_“At least tell me your name.”_

_Emi thought for a minute before looking up at the blond._

_“Emiko.”_


	46. Kira and Ayame

“So Cain,” Emi asked, “how did you end up in my mind?”

Cain had explained that the blue light that he gave her to be able to do magic also served as a sort of soul link which enabled him to look after her if he had died. 

_Emi finally got away from Sting and was headed around Crocus to find the bookshop. She couldn’t wait to be able to read more about dragons and their magic. She had read some books on the white dragon and fire dragon, but she wanted to learn more about the dragon slayers. She almost tripped on something at her feet as she rounded the corner._

_“Uh, Lector?”_

_The maroon exceed was laying on the ground as he had fallen from impact. He looked up to see who it was that knocked him down so he could yell at him._

_“You better watch where you--”_

_Lector’s face paled as he recognized the hood figure. He started to sweat and shake._

_“I’m sorry!” Lector started screaming. “I didn’t know it was you. You can always knock me over. I don’t mind. Just please don’t hurt me.”_

_Emi looked at him in confusion before he started to run away. She grabbed the exceed by the back of his vest, pulling him back over to her. Lector started squirming in her grasp as he tried to make her let go._

_“If you hurt me then Sting is going to come after you. Sting is the strongest wizard I know, so he can beat you!”_

_“Hush, cat. I’m not going to hurt you.”_

_Lector looked up at her before asking her if she really meant it. Emi nodded and said that she would bring him back to Sting if he told her where the bookshop was. Lector quickly gave her directions and started flying next to her._

_“Do you really know where Sting is?”_

_“I saw him a few minutes ago, so he shouldn't have gotten far. Just in case…”_

_Emi picked up the exceed and jumped onto a roof, causing Lector to let out a little squeak. She explained that they would be able to see better from above the crowds. They eventually saw Sting running through the streets._

_“Sting!”_

_Emi had grabbed the exceed and jumped down from the roof before landing in front of the dragon slayer. She had Lector by the back of his vest again as she pushed him towards Sting._

_“I found your cat.”_

_Sting looked at her as she was walking away and grabbed her wrist._

_“Please stop doing that. I would like to get to the bookshop.”_

“Is this the day that I got that book on dragons?” 

Lector and Sting gave her a thumbs up. 

_“I could go with you,” Sting blurted out._

“Very smooth, Sting.”

“Shut it, Rogue.”

_“I don’t need help to pick out a book.”_

_“Yeah well I need a book too.”_

_Emi stopped walking before crossing her arms._

_“And what book are you looking for?”_

_“Well what book are you looking for?”_

_They both stared at each other before Emi stated that she was looking for a book on dragons._

_“Dragons? Like to learn about them?”_

_“I like to study different types of magic. Right now I would like to study dragons and their magic.”_

_Sting smiled wide before stepping in front of her._

_“Well you’ve come to the right place, Emiko. I happen to know a lot about dragons.”_

_“You do?”_

_“I mean I should hope so. I was raised by one after all.”_

_Emi let out a small gasp before she recovered her flat exterior. She stood silent, and Sting took that as a sign to continue._

_“I can tell you all about them if you want.”_

_“Which type of dragon slayer are you?”_

_“I was raised by the white dragon, Weisslogia.”_

_“WHITE DRAGON?” Emi screamed, not being able to hold in her excitement._

_Sting laughed at her rather uncharacteristic reaction._

_“I’ve been studying the white dragon for years. Are you a holy element dragon slayer or a light dragon slayer? Can you purify things unholy? Can you breathe like a dragon? How do you get energy? Why--”_

_Lector laughed and landed on Sting’s head._

_“Sting, I think you broke her. She looks like she needs a reset.”_

_Sting laughed at his partner before turning back to the hooded girl._

_“To answer you questions. I’m a holy elemental dragon slayer. I can purify with a couple different techniques. I can also breathe out holy light and I get my energy by eating things that are white.”_

_Emi nodded before regaining her composure._

Lucy laughed, “Well I guess we know how their friendship started now.”

“Not even close,” Sting countered.

“Wait, really?”

_“I’m very sorry for rambling. I’ll be heading to the bookshop now.”_

_“Oh come on, Emiko! I was just getting started. Don’t you want to kno--”_

_“I can read it in books. Besides, I know enough about white dragons now. I’ve been studying them for years.”_

_Lector looked at Sting and shrugged his shoulders as Emi walked away._

\--------------------------------------------------

_Emi sighed as she sat down underneath a large tree. She was enjoying the shade on an otherwise very hot day. Her cloak wasn’t helping her heat, as it was a dark black. She closed her eyes before her foot was lightly kicked. She snapped her eyes open to see Sting standing over her. Emi quickly sat up and glared at the boy._

_“What do you want? Can’t you see I’m relaxing.”_

_“How are you still wearing that cloak? It’s way too humid for dark clothing like that.”_

_“Hey asshole, hurry up! We’re going to be late getting back and then the master will kill us!”_

_Sting looked over his shoulder before telling the shouting girl that he would be there in a minute. He turned back to Emi and held his hand out for her to take. Emi eyed the hand before getting up by herself._

_“You wanna come somewhere that’s nice and cool?”_

_“No.”_

_“You don’t have to take your cloak off. It’ll feel nice on a hot day like this.”_

_“Sting! Get your ass over here!”_

_“You should probably go before she drags you to where you’re going.”_

_“Well if you change your mind, you can go to--”_

_“STING!”_

_“Jesus, Kira, cool it. I’m coming.”_

_Sting turned back to Emi one last time before giving her a smile and jogging over to two girls._

\--------------------------------------

_Emi was reading her book on fairy tales as she sat on a high branch of a tree in the forest. She looked down upon hearing twigs snapping, signally to her that someone was coming. Two girls were walking below her with Sting walking close behind._

_“Come on, Kira. Why do I have to carry everything?”_

_A girl with purple hair looked at the complaining dragon slayer before telling him that it was punishment for coming through her window in the morning._

_“It was only to make sure you were ready to leave.”_

_“You came in through the window and you didn’t even knock. What if I wasn’t dressed yet?”_

_Sting huffed as he adjusted the bags that he was carrying on his back. He stopped walking and looked around, causing the woman to snap again._

_“Will you hurry up, asshole. We’ll be late. I know you don’t like riding the train but deal with it.”_

_“I smell something.”_

_The black haired girl decided to speak up._

_“You always smell something.”_

_Sting then looked up to see Emi sitting there and staring down at them intently to see if they would actually notice her. Sting stopped walking and gave a small wave and grin before following the two girls._

_Emi looked down at the retreating group before carefully walking through the forest behind them._

_“Yame, what’re you doing?”_

_“Taking a break!”_

_Kira turned around to the two before ordering, “We can’t take a break yet. We’re not even halfway through the forest and we need to get to the train station before the last train leaves.”_

_Sting groaned as he picked up the bags again and continued to walk. The group had made it to the edge of the forest before one of the girls stopped walking completely._

_“Did you hear that?”_

_The black haired girl said, “Kira, you’re paranoid. Let’s keep walking. I’m tired.”_

_“Sting, smell around.”_

_“What am I? A dog?”_

_“Just do it!”_

_Sting started to lift his nose in the air as he smelled the forest. Emi started to panic as he neared the tree. The dragon slayer looked up and smiled once he saw her again. He jumped up into the tree where she was hiding and appeared behind her._

_“Yo.”_

_Emi jumped at the sudden noise before turning to him and backing away. He put his hands up and smiled._

_“Whatcha doing following us?”_

_Emi turned her head to the side before saying that she was curious to see what kind of job they were taking. Sting sat on the branch beside her and gave her a lopsided grin before saying that she should join them._

_“Absolutely not.”_

_“Well then I have no choice.”_

_“What are you--”_

_Sting jumped from the branch and told the group that he had found who was following them. Emi cursed and began to retreat. As she began to jump through the trees, she felt an arm find its way around her stomach and pull her into a figure._

_“Let me go right now!”_

_“Sting who is it?”_

_Sting held Emi and jumped back down to the group. Kira looked at Emi before she crossed her arms._

_“Listen here, mister. What are you doing following us through the forest?”_

_Sting chuckled before dropping the girl on the ground. Emi picked herself up and began to walk back into the forest, but Kira grabbed her shoulder._

_“Who are you?”_

_Emi shrugged off her hold and continued to walk in the opposite direction._

_“I’ll get her,” Sting replied._

_The two girls looked at each before turning to the dragon slayer and letting out a bewildered “her?” as he caught up to Emi. He walked by her side and tried to get her to join them for the job._

_“No.”_

_“Come on, it’ll be fun. Plus Kira won’t let you leave without being interrogated anyway. She might even turn you in.”_

_Emi stopped in her tracks._

_“To the Magic Council?”_

_Sting looked back at her in confusion before replying, “Uh no. I was thinking more like our master, but why would the Magic Council want you?”_

_Emi continued to walk, causing Sting to pick her up and throw her over his shoulder._

_“Put me down!”_

_Sting laughed as he walked back over to his teammates._

_“She’s coming with us.”_

_“No I’m not! Sting put me down this instant.”_

_Kira stepped forward before demanding that Emi reveal her intentions._

_“I was just...curious I guess,” Emi answered while blushing._

_Because her hood covered her face, no one noticed her embarrassment._

_“Take off your hood,” Kira demanded._

_Emi gasped before holding her hood protectively._

_“That’s a no go, Kira. She doesn’t take it off.”_

_“Well I’m turning you in unless you show yourself.”_

_Emi flashed her face before putting the hood back on._

_“Woah,” Ayame breathed. “You’re like, super pretty.”_

_Lector decided to speak up, gaining confidence as he was hiding behind both Kira and Sting._

_“She’s super scary though. She attacked Sting!”_

_Kira’s face became deadly as she growled, “You attacked someone from our guild?”_

_Emi and Kira glared at each other until Sting stepped between the two._

_“It wasn’t her, Kira. I was annoying her and she was just protecting herself.”_

_“What the hell did you try to do with her, asshole?”_

_“Sting did nothing wrong! He was trying to make sure she got home safe!”_

_Emi looked at the exceed and stared at him until he started shaking. Emi turned around once more to go back to the forest when Sting gently grabbed her wrist._

_“How many times do I have to tell you not to do that?”_

\--------------------------------------

_“I can’t believe you’re dragging me across Fiore for some stupid Vulcan job.”_

_Kira looked opposite of her before she countered, “Well you’re the one that followed us through the forest. It’s not my fault Sting made you come.”_

_“Speaking of Sting. Um, why is he like that?” Emi asked as she pointed to the sick dragon slayer._

_“Who knows what goes on with that idiot. He gets like this every time we ride the train and it’s annoying. We always have to drag him off so that he can recover.”_

_“I don’t think we really got off on the right foot,” the black haired girl stated. “My name is Ayame, and this is Kira. What’s your name?”_

_Emi whispered her name, but no one could hear her, causing Kira to tell her she needed to speak up._

_“Emiko.”_

_“That’s actually a really pretty name,” Kira added. “So why do you wear your hood all the time?”_

_Ayame joked, “It’s probably so she doesn’t get bothered by guys all the time.”_

_Kira and Ayame started laughing. Emi couldn’t stop herself from letting out a small giggle._

_“So what type of magic do you both use?”_

_Kira spoke up first, saying, “I use water magic. Basically I can control anything with water in it.”_

“Juvia has that type of magic. Juvia wishes to see Kira use it.”

_“And I use something called gas magic. It’s basically that I can create a bunch of different smokes that have a wide range of effects. I can just decide which one to use and it does what I tell it to.”_

“That’s actually pretty cool,” Gray said. 

_“They both sound really powerful. I’m glad you aren’t still after me.”_

_“What about you, Emiko? What kind of magic do you use?”_

_“Creation magic.”_

_“Wait wait wait. You use a lost magic? How did you learn such a thing?”_

_“I read books about all different types of magic.”_

_Kira looked at her in awe before covering her expression and pointing to the sick dragon slayer._

_“Sorry about him. I totally believe that you didn’t attack him maliciously. He’s a pain in the ass and quite honestly I cast spells at him a lot. It’s just that we’re part of the same guild and we all look out for each other.”_

Everyone looked on as Kira said that Sting was a part of such a guild. Emi and Sting were looking down at the ground, a saddened look on their faces.


	47. Camp

_“If we had to sleep in the forest anyway then why did we bother to take the train,” Sting complained._

_“Because,” Kira snapped back, “we needed to get to the closest town in order to get the details of the request. The actual job is in the forest.”_

_“Why couldn’t we have just stayed in an inn in town and started in the forest in the morning? There was a great bar in town that I wanted to try.”_

_“Yame, all you think about is booze. Hey newbie, you’re the only one not complaining. How come?”_

_Emi was walking behind them all, reading a book. They all looked back at her and sweatdropped. Kira drew her attention by clapping her hands._

_“Sorry. I was just reading about earth magic. I’m not complaining because I’m used to traveling a lot and sleeping outdoors. Plus I have this book.”_

_“Aren’t you leaving yourself open for a surprise attack? You’re not even paying attention.”_

_As if on cue, a group of bandits jumped out of the trees. They grabbed Lector and told them that they would kill the exceed if they didn’t hand over all their money._

_“Lector!” Sting shouted. “Don’t worry buddy, I’ll get you back. Give back Lector.”_

_Emi had harshly shut her book, making an echoing sound through the forest. With one quick motion, all the bandits were laying on the ground. Everyone looked towards Emi’s feet to see that the ground had formed a snake trail underground that threw the bandits off balance._

_“Did you like that?” Emi questioned the bandits. “It’s a spell called Earthworm. It’s a type of earth magic that I’ve been reading about in this book. Would you like to see another one?”_

_Lector flew behind Sting and hid. Emi slowly walked closer to the bandits as she smirked._

_“Fissure!”_

_Just like in her battle with Lust, the ground broke apart, causing the bandits to fall into the large crack that had formed._

_“Holy shit!” Kira and Ayame yelled._

_Sting smiled wide as he watched the cloaked wizard, completely mesmerized. Emi slowly walked over to a cowerding Lector and leaned down to his level._

_“You okay?”_

_Lector looked up at her before the tears left his eyes and he put on a confident and brave facade._

_“Of course I am! I wasn’t afraid at all!”_

_Lector flew to Sting, who was still looking at the crack. He landed on his head, making Sting jolt and turn up to his friend. He said that he was glad that the exceed was safe before looking back down at the fissure._

_“Hey dragon boy, your mental boner is showing.”_

_“Huh?”_

_Sting looked back to see the three girls staring at him, Kira with a smug smile on her face. The dragon slayer blushed a little before giving a snide comment to the wizard with purple hair. Ayame decided to question Emi about how she was able to use such a powerful spell. Emi shrugged and said that she had read it in a book a while back._

_“So,” Sting wondered as he finally was able to pay attention again, “you just read about it and decided to do it?”_

_“I study all types of magic. My creation magic enables me to form what spells I read about. I just have to practice them or else they won’t work or won’t hold for very long. So for instance,” Emi walked over to an empty section of the forest and conjured her Asteroid spell._

_The ground started to shake as boulders began to form in the sky. However, the boulders were small in size and softly fell to the ground before turning to dust._

_“I just read about this spell. It’s a pretty difficult spell and I haven’t practiced it yet at all, so the chances that I would’ve actually have been able to do it were very slim.”_

_“Emiko,” Kira started, “you are officially the coolest wizard I’ve ever met.”_

_“You really think so?”_

_“Emiko, how come you’re nicer to her than us?” Sting questioned while crossing his arms._

_“Because you two are annoying and very rude at times,” Kira snapped. “How did you even meet? Don’t tell me you idiots didn’t just go up to her because she was in a cloak.”_

_Sting huffed before letting out a small “not exactly” before Emi spoke up._

_“They would sit in a small bakeshop at a table and watch me while I would sit at a corner table. For days.”_

_Kira smacked Sting on the back of the head while telling him that he was an idiot. Sting rubbed his head before turning back to the clearing and starting to set up the camp. Kira had assigned the jobs: Sting and Lector were tasked with gathering wood for the fires, Ayame and Kira were gathering food, and Emi was watching the campsite for danger._

_“Are you sure we should leave her alone?” Sting whispered to Kira as they started to go in opposite directions._

_“You can’t seriously be worried about her after you just saw what she can do. The worst she can do is leave, and I have a feeling that she won’t.”_

_Emi sat in the middle of the camp and opened her book, quickly marking any important information that she could find. She heard a ‘thump’ and looked up to see that Sting and Lector had returned with a big pile of firewood. Emi looked back to her book and continued to read._

_“So how many spells do you know?” Sting asked as he tried to make conversation._

_“A lot.”_

_Lector went to check on Ayame and Kira, leaving Sting and Emi alone. They sat in silence, Sting glancing over at the cloaked girl every so often._

_“So…”_

_“You don’t have to try to make conversation,” Emi spoke up._

_Silence washed over them again. Emi was reading her book as Sting watched. He couldn’t see her face, but he could tell that she was happy and relaxed by the way that she was sitting._

“Didn’t know you could be quiet for so long.”

Sting looked at Rogue’s smirk and stuck his tongue out at him.

_Emi spoke up from her book, noticing that Sting was looking at her, “You and Lector seem close.”_

_Sting smiled before telling her how he and Lector had met when they were young. Emi smiled softly before it turned into a small frown as she remembered her time spent with Cain._

_“Are you two...friends?”_

_Sting looked at Emi in surprise by her sudden question before telling her that he and Lector were best friends and that they would do anything for each other. Emi looked at Sting with an unknown look in her eyes as she repeated the words that Cain had once said to her._

_“Friends only weigh you down. Once you have someone you feel you need to protect, it’s all over.”_

_Sting looked at her._

_“What are you talking about? Friends make you want to improve yourself. Once you vow yourself to a life of solitude, you are stuck in place with how you are at that moment. There’s no one to push you to become a better person. You’ll just be...alone.”_

_“I had a friend once,” Emi commented._

_Sting looked to her as he waited for her to continue, but he was met with complete silence. He was about to say something, but Kira and Ayame had returned. They all helped to set up the campsite with the fire and started cooking some fish that the two girls had collected. Emi had gone back to her book and Lector had fallen asleep near the fire. Once it was time to sleep, Ayame and Kira slept in one area and Sting and Lector sat in another._

_“Emiko, how come you didn’t set up a space for you?” Ayame questioned._

_Emi looked up from her book, simply saying that she was volunteering to overwatch the campsite for possible danger. Everyone looked at her before slowly agreeing and crawling into their sleeping bags. Emi stood up and crawled into a tree near the campsite and continued to read._

_“Hey,” Sting said, catching Emi’s attention._

_Emi stood on the branch before crouching back down._

_“What?”_

_“Need some company?”_

_“No.”_

_Sting laughed before jumping next to her on the branch. He sat cross-legged and looked down at the campsite._

_“Why are you up here?”_

_“I’m helping!”_

_Emi looked at him with a bored expression as she turned to look into the woods. Sting looked at her before poking her in the shoulder. She looked over her shoulder and asked him what he wanted._

_“Why don’t you go get some sleep and I’ll watch for the rest of the night? You’ve been looking out for three hours now.”_

_“I’m fine. I have my book.”_

_“Your body needs at least one hour, especially after you used so much magic in a short time.”_

_“I don’t have a place to sleep.”_

_Sting told her that she could use his, as he would be standing watch. She quickly gave another excuse, saying that she wouldn’t be comfortable. Sting could sense her discomfort, which made him curious._

_“Why are you afraid of falling asleep?”_

_“I’m not!” Emi said a little too quickly._

_Sting looked over his shoulder and gave her a grin._

_“I’ll protect you, so you don’t have to worry.”_

_“I don’t need any protection. I can handle myself.”_

_Sting shifted so that they were both facing the same way. He gently touched her hand, making her flinch away._

_“You know, I used to be afraid of letting people in, too. My dragon died and left me alone. It wasn’t until I met Lector that I started to feel comfortable again. Then I joined the guild and we met a lot of other people. You can do the same if you try.”_

_“No.”_

_Sting looked at her in disbelief, shocked that she had brushed him off so quickly._

_“You’re harsh. You just completely shut down my heartfelt speech.”_

_She didn’t respond, so he looked over to her to find that she had fallen asleep as she leaned on the trunk of the tree._

_“Jeez. A high branch is the worst possible place to doze off.”_

_Sting looked off into the forest to continue watching for danger as she slept._

“How come you don’t like sleeping, Emi? That’s the best thing except for eating!”

Everyone looked over at Natsu before Lucy smacked him and told him to just pay attention. Suddenly everyone could hear a scream, and they all quickly turned to the memory.

_Emi started screaming and jolting as she leaned on the trunk of the tree. Sting looked completely panicked as he tried to stop her screaming._

_“Hey! Hey, Emiko! Come on, wake up.”_

_The girl kept screaming until she started crying. Sting looked down to the camp and saw that nobody made a move to indicate that they had heard her screams._

_“Are you kidding me? How can they not hear her?”_

_He quickly turned back to the screaming girl and held her shoulders._

_“Wake up!”_

_Emi jolted awake and continued to cry as she looked around frantically. She still had her hood on, so she didn’t have a complete peripheral vision. Sting quickly put his hands on either side of her head and held her head so she was staring right at him. Emi’s eyes widened as she continued writhing in his grasp. Sting repeated a “shh” sound until her squirming died down._

_“Where...am I?”_

_“You’re safe.”_

_Emi quickly scanned the area before she shook his hold off her head and stood up. She turned away from him and looked out into the woods._

_“A friend of mine used to say that forests are the safest place for someone who is hiding, but I don’t find truth in that.”_

_Sting pulled himself up and stood next to her, asking what she meant by the seemingly random statement. Emi shook her head._

_“I guess it doesn’t matter anymore now, does it? I’ve run out of places to hide.”_

_“Uh, what are you hiding from?”_

_Emi thought for a minute, wondering if she should tell him. She settled with something vague but true._

_“Pure evil.”_

_“Are you, like, okay?”_

_“We all need to keep moving, no matter what happens. No matter who falls. The strong must survive to purge the darkness.”_

_Sting stood there utterly confused. He kept looking to Emi for clarification, but nothing came. She stayed completely silent. He wanted to ask her what she meant, but she stood at the end of the branch and mumbled a quick “thank you” before jumping off the tree and sitting by the unlit fire._

Emi looked at the memory with cold eyes, scaring everyone. Sting gently held her hand and whispered something.


	48. Thanks, Kira

_“The Vulcans should be this way.”_

_Everyone followed Kira to the spot that the job spoke of. Sting would look over his shoulder at Emi every once in a while, as she was hanging back from the group. She had her nose in a book about water magic. Her sleeves were rolled up, as it was a hot day, but she continued to wear the cloak. Sting could see black markings that were on her arms. Sting slowed his pace until Emi was next to him and decided to check in with her._

_“Are you feeling better?”_

_Emi didn’t look up from her book, speaking monotone, “There isn’t anything that would make me feel bad.”_

_“Yeah but--”_

_Emi sped up and walked beside Kira who held the lead. Kira turned to Sting and saw that he was walking behind everyone else._

_“Hurry up, you lazy ass. We have Vulcans to beat.”_

_Sting rolled his eyes before running to catch up. Emi stopped walking and turned to the side._

_“They’re to the left of us,” she stated quickly before facing the emerging group of Vulcans._

_Sting stepped up saying that he could take care of them. However, Emi had already stepped in front of him and moved her hands in a twisting motion._

_“Tidal wave!”_

_At Emi’s command, a large wave of water struck the Vulcans, knocking them all unconscious. Sting looked at her in disbelief before noticing that she was still walking towards them._

_“Hey what are you doing? They’re already--”_

_“Petrification!”_

_The Vulcans were soon engulfed in stone before Emi kicked them to rubble. She looked from the rubble up to the group who looked on in horror._

_“What?”_

_“Um, we were actually supposed to bring proof that we got rid of them.”_

_“How do they expect you to have proof of a thing that has run away? Now you have proof of their defeat.”_

_“Yeah but--”_

_“Are we leaving now?”_

_The group looked at Emi before turning back towards the rubble. Kira nodded and told Sting to gather up all the bags that he had dropped before they all walked back through the forest._

_“Emiko, what was that water attack you did? You have got to show me how to do that.”_

_“I read about it in this book,” Emi replied while holding up the book on water magic._

_Once they arrived back at the house where the request came from, they received their reward._

_“Emiko, this is for you,” Ayame stated as she held out a pouch of jewel to the girl._

_“Why am I getting the reward? I’m not part of your guild, and therefore didn’t take part in the request.”_

_“But you did all the work!” Lector shouted._

_Emi started walking towards the train, stating that she would not accept the reward of a job that was not hers to begin with. Everyone looked at each other before jogging to catch up to her. Once they boarded the train, Sting’s motion sickness kicked in._

_“We aren’t even moving yet.”_

_“It’s the anticipation.”_

_Kira rolled her eyes, muttering, “Unbelievable.”_

\-----------------------------------------------

_“Electric hail!”_

_Small lightning bolts rained from the sky as they shocked the ground around the cloaked girl._

_“Interesting. I’m quite fond of this spell. It could come in handy when--”_

_Emi stopped her rambling when she felt someone near her. She prepared herself for an attack and decided to make the first move._

_“Fury bolt!”_

_A large lightning bolt struck behind a nearby tree and exploded on the ground._

_“Ow ow ow ow ow!”_

_Emi walked over to the tree to find Sting laying on the ground in pain. He looked up at her and started yelling._

_“Why would you do that?”_

_“Why were you spying on me?”_

_Sting fell silent as a blush appeared. He rubbed the back of his head and gave her a nervous smile._

_“Well, Kira and Ayame said that they wanted to go on another job with y--”_

_“No.”_

_“You don’t even know what it is yet.”_

_“I work alone.”_

_Emi picked up her book on lightning magic and began to walk away._

_“It’s gotta be tiring being alone all the time!”_

_Emi looked back at him._

_“It is.”_

_With that, Emi disappeared into the forest surrounding Crocus._

\--------------------------------------------------

_“Mommy, Daddy! Look what we found!”_

_Emi was walking down the streets of Crocus, families and couples passing by each second. Emi kept her head down as she listened to the happiness that their voices held. She could feel the love that they all felt towards each other._

_“Was I...ever as happy as this?”_

_“Happy as what?”_

_Emi jumped at the sudden noise before turning to see Kira standing there._

_“Sting said you totally blew him off the other day about that request we wanted to take, so I’m here this time to ask if you want to join us for one that we’re taking tomorrow. It’s fairly easy.”_

_“If it’s easy then why do you need me to go with you?”_

_“Well we don’t need you to go with us, but we definitely want you to.”_

_“Why would you want that?”_

_“Listen, I’m not good at the whole ‘friendly person’ thing and I can be blunt most of the time but I really like you and I want you to hang out with us again.”_

_“I can’t.”_

_Kira sighed before dragging Emi to a stream in a nearby park._

_“Look,” Kira stated as she drew out a couple drops of water out of the stream, “this amount of water is the fun I have with Sting.”_

_“That’s awfully small.”_

_“Believe me, all he does is complain and yell. He has way too much energy for me to deal with.”_

“I like this girl,” Rogue laughed. “She tells the truth.”

“Oh yeah? Say that again! Emi, what do you th--”

Sting stopped as he saw that Emi was intently watching the memory with a small smile on her face. 

_Kira pulled up a lot more water, saying, “This is how much fun I have when it’s just me and Ayame.”_

_“That’s more.”_

_“And this,” Kira said as he pulled up a massive amount of water, “is how much fun I have when both Ayame and Sting come with me on jobs.”_

_“That’s a lot of water.”_

_Kira laughed and lowered the water back into the stream. She looked to Emi as she smiled wide._

_“Do you see what I’m getting at? Friends make things seem more enjoyable, even if it is a lame Vulcan job. I really had a lot of fun when you tagged along. I got to see spells that I have never seen before. And I got to meet someone new who really doesn’t seem phased by my harsh personality. So, will you please join us again?”_

“I never knew you two spoke like that.”

“She might have a brash exterior, but Kira’s caring and kind hearted.”

_Emi looked to the stream and saw that teardrops were falling into the water from her face. Kira held Emi’s shoulder and smiled._

_“So what do you say? You wanna come?”_

\---------------------------------------------

_“Move aside, weaklings! The two most powerful female wizards in Crocus are here!”_

_“Yeah well the strongest male wizard is also here.”_

_“No way!” Kira screamed excitedly. “Makarov Dreyar is here?!”_

Master Makarov laughed at the girl’s enthusiasm as she looked around for him. Sting and Emi laughed quietly to themselves. 

_“No. Me!”_

_Kira turned to Sting and kicked him in the back of the knees, making his legs buckle and fall over._

_“You dickhead, you actually got me excited.”_

_“Who’s Makarov Dreyar?”_

_Kira turned to Emi with sparkles in her eyes, replying giddily, “He’s only the coolest wizard ever! He’s part of the Ten Wizard Saints and he’s a guildmaster. He leads Fairy Tail, the best guild ever.”_

_“You better not let Master Rue hear you or else you’re going to be in trouble,” Ayame laughed._

\------------------------------------------

_“You two need to relax a little. It’s a nice day.”_

_Sting was laying down under a tree as Emi and Kira continued to spar. Emi was wearing her cloak and Kira wore a dark outfit._

_“You’re both gonna get a heat stroke and I’m not taking you to a medic.”_

_Kira turned to the dragon slayer and huffed, “Some of us aren’t lazy and actually want to improve instead of laying there and doing nothing all day.”_

_“What about you, Emiko? Are you ready to stop and take a break? You two have been sparring for two hours now.”_

_“I would like to train for longer.”_

_Sting smirked at her and suggested, “You know, we could always get some ice cream and take a quick break before you go back to training.”_

_Emi’s ears perked up at the thought of ice cream. She looked over at Kira for a second._

_Sensing that his plan was working, Sting continued, “Yeah, I know a good ice cream stand by the palace that we could go to.”_

_“Kira, I do think it’s time to take a break,” Emi stated._

_Kira grumbled, “You just want the ice cream. Fine. But Sting is paying.”_

_“Hey! I never said I would pay!”_

_“You haven’t done a single thing today and it was your idea, so you’re paying.”_

_“You guys suck.”_


	49. Hey, Did You Change?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Someone pointed out that I skipped a chapter, so I posted the missing chapter (chapter 37) in case anyone wanted to go back and read it. Sorry about that and I hope you enjoy!

_“And then I said something along the lines of ‘hey pal, you better get moving before I use your blood to control you’ and he totally pissed himself.”_

_“Kira,” Ayame hiccuped, clearly drunk, “I don’t think Emiko wants to hear that.”_

_“Actually, I’m quite curious. Can you actually control someone using their blood?”_

_“It’s a technique I saw in a book somewhere that says that you can use the water in the bloodstream to make a person move. It was written down by a water mage named Katara. I haven’t tested it to see if I can actually do it, but it was totally the best bluff ever.”_

_Emi laughed before turning to the drunk Ayame._

_“What about you, Ayame? Any crazy stories to tell?”_

_“Well there was this one guy that got so caught up in my ‘perfume’ that he ended up fighting the entire bar.”_

_“Was it one of your smokes?” Emi laughed._

_“Bingo. It’s one that causes irritation and moodiness. People are quick to anger once they smell it.”_

_“Wow Yame,” Kira commented, “and I thought I was sadistic.”_

_“Sting, what about you?”_

_The three girls looked over at the dragon slayer to see that he was sick on the floor._

_“Oh right. Whoops.”_

_They all laughed as the train neared the station. Sting had leaned on Emi in order to stop himself from falling as he got off the train._

\------------------------------

_“Okay losers and Emiko, let’s kick some ass!”_

_The five of them had taken a job in a town south of Crocus, and Lector and Sting were complaining the whole way. Kira and Emi were laughing at the sick Sting and Ayame was drunk off her ass as she stumbled out of the train._

_“So what’s this job again?”_

_“Well I’m glad you asked, Emiko. It should be a fun job for you. We’re helping to organize a library that was just rebuilt after a massive fire.”_

_“A fire?”_

_“Yeah some guy in Fairy Tail burned the whole thing down when he took a mission here a couple weeks ago.”_

Everyone looked towards Natsu who laughed and looked away as he hid a small blush. 

_“Wait, fire? Does that mean that Natsu might’ve done it?” Sting gasped._

_“Oh great. Way to go Kira. Now he won’t shut up about Natsu for the rest of the trip.”_

_Both Ayame and Kira groaned. Emi looked at both of them and asked for an answer as to why Natsu was so important._

_“Natsu is like Sting's idol or whatever. He’s the same age as us though, so I don’t really understand how that works.”_

_Once they had reached the library, Emi’s eyes sparkled. There were so many books that she ended up getting distracted and reading a bunch of them instead of helping to organize. Sting complained the whole time and Ayame kept dropping the books when she went to put them on the high shelves. Kira was the only one actually doing the job correctly._

_“Come on guys. A little help would be appreciated.”_

_Emi continued to read, but made a movement with her free hand._

_“Levitate.”_

_Suddenly, multiple books started floating in the air._

_“Navigation.”_

_Books started flying into their places on the shelves. Emi continued doing this as she read, causing Kira to look at her with her mouth open._

_“How are you doing that?”_

_“It is in one of the books I’ve read.”_

_“While we were here?”_

_“Before.”_

_“You mean you could do that the whole time and you let me work my ass off alone while you read?”_

_“Yes.”_

_Kira huffed as she continued to work alongside Emi’s spell. Emi had opened up a book with different fairy tales much similar to the one that Arthur had given her. She looked through the book before landing on a book of the Twin Fish._

_“Hey Lector,” Emi spoke, gaining the attention of the exceed that was sitting on Sting’s head, “you should come over here and I’ll read you this story. I think you might like it.”_

_Lector floated over to the cloaked woman before sitting down next to her. He saw the picture of the fish and immediately turned to Emi to ask her to begin reading. The story was on the history of Pisces, a celestial spirit known as the mother and son duo. Lector listened intently as Emi read him the story, completely ignoring the dragon slayer as he asked what he was doing._

_“How does it feel to be the second choice, dragon boy?”_

_Sting grumbled something incoherent and turned back to the corner where he was sleeping._  
\----------------------------------

_“Your name has more than three syllables.”_

_“What does that have to do with the job?”_

_The group was sitting by the fire as they waited for morning so they could complete the request they took. Emi was asked to join again, and she readily accepted. Kira, Ayame and Emi were making random conversation._

_“It means that you need a nickname.”_

_“What? Why?”_

_“Because it’ll be easier. Besides, friends usually have some sort of nickname for each other. It’s only natural.”_

_“Friends?” Emi asked, slightly nervous. “But you and Sting don’t have nicknames.”_

_“That’s because their names are short,” Ayame pointed out._

_Kira and Ayame had convinced Emi to let them use a nickname._

_“How about Miko?”_

_“Yame, that has got to be the worst suggestion ever.”_

_“I think it’s a great suggestion!” Ayame defended._

_“It’s a great name, but not for Emiko.”_

_Emi sat, watching the amusing battle between the two wizards._

_“Okay, what about Emi?”_

_Emi looked up at the sound of her nickname, making Kira smirk._

_“See? She even responds to it.”_

_“What is she, a dog?” Sting spoke up from the other side of the fire._

_Emi decided to speak up, “I actually like Emi.”_

_“Perfect!” Kira and Ayame cheered._

Emi smiled at the memory, taking in the happiness that it brought. 

\-----------------------------------

_“Emi!”_

_Emi looked up to the purple haired wizard, smiling brightly. Kira caught up to her as she was walking through the city’s streets._

_“Yes?”_

_“Wanna come on a job? It’s in a town that has a massive library.”_

_Emi looked at her with bright eyes as she thought of all the books that she would be able to read. She quickly agreed and went to the inn to pack a few things before meeting their usual group in front of their guildhall. The group traveled by train, much to the dismay of the blond dragon slayer._

_“Hey Emi,” Ayame asked, “how about we go to the town’s bar and get totally wasted?”_

_“You’re the only one I know who can handle so much booze. I think I’ll pass. I’m not very good at handling it.”_

“Hey Cana, she’s a lot like you!” Natsu noted. 

“You think so? Probably.”

_Once Emi saw the library, she sprinted to the door making her cloak flow in the wind._

_Kira and Sting laughed at her excitement as they watched the girl almost trip. They all followed her into the library to find her already engulfed in a book she had picked out._

_“What’s that one about?”_

_“It focuses on fire magic.”_

_Everyone left Emi alone to read as they contacted the person who put in the request. Apparently they had to go through and mark the dates that the books were written._

_“Hey Emi, before we start, do you have any spells that would do the work for us?”_

_“Not this time.”_

_“Then you better get your ass over here and help!”_

_“I’ll be there in a minute.”_

_After ten more minutes of reading, Emi closed the book and began to label the dates of the books. Once they were finished, they collected the rewards and decided to explore the town. They had found a small diner at the center of town and decided to stop for a meal. They all sat at the table when the lights at all the tables suddenly went out. The waitress had gone to the tables and told them that their lights have been on and off all day. Emi smiled and stood up, walking over towards the waitress._

_“I think I can help.”_

_Emi looked back to the group to see that they were all confused._

_Emi stood at the front of the diner and snapped her fingers saying, “Rekindle.”_

_All the lights in the diner were lit again. The waitress thanked her as she sat back down at their table._

_“When did you learn how to do that?”_

_“Today when I was reading about fire magic. It’s a low-level spell, so I was able to successfully cast it pretty easily.”_

\-------------------------------------

_“And this one is an aconite and this one is bugleweed and this one is a buttercup and this one is…”_

_Emi was showing Sting the book on flowers that she and Arthur used to look at. She was currently flipping through the pages and pointing out the flowers that she found interesting. Sting was watching her as she excitedly showed him the pictures and smiled._

_“What are you staring at?” Emi asked upon noticing his look._

_“You’re just so different from when we first met.”_

_“What do you mean?”_

_“Well for one thing, you’re talking to me willingly. You’re actually talking to people and hanging out with us and you seem to be enjoying yourself. You’re not always trying to be alone.”_

_“I guess.”_

_“Now there’s another thing that I think you should start doing.”_

_Emi looked up from the flower book and asked him what he was talking about. Sting carefully grabbed the edges of her hood and slowly pulled it off her head while looking her in the eyes with a soft look, causing Emi to blush at the close contact._

_“You should start taking off your hood more.”_

_Emi looked away shyly before putting her hood back on and saying that she wasn’t ready to do that yet. Sting sighed before leaning back to the flower book._

_“Tell me about this one.”_

_“That’s Lady Mantle. It can actually be used as a medicinal herb. Did you know that it blooms in the spring? Or that it resembles cabbage? Did you know--”_

_Sting started laughing at the rambling girl as he took in how happy she looked. He gently closed the book and told her that they needed to prepare for a job, making the girl groan._

_“But I had so much more to show you!”_


	50. Well...

_“We totally scared the shit out of that guy, Emi. You’re totally a badass. Who knew that a guy could piss himself just by you looking at him.”_

_“You think I’m scary?”_

_“Oh come on,” Sting reminded, “you pinned me against a wall with ice spears because I made you drop your ice cream.”_

_“That wasn’t why! You were following me all around the city! What did you want me to do? A random guy comes in everyday and watches me while I eat, follows me into a dark alleyway and then somehow finds me again on the other side of town to ask me to walk me home.”_

_“Who knew you could be that big of an idiot,” Kira scolded as she stood with her hands crossed._

Sting sulked as he watched the memory. Lector started laughing until he heard a scolding voice. 

_“And you, Lector, are just as bad.”_

_“What? I was the one telling him to leave and he wouldn’t listen. He wanted to talk to her.”_

_“Either way,” Ayame interrupted, “we all have an offer for you.”_

_Emi looked at the group as they stopped walking and had big smiles on their faces. Kira looked at her and held her hand out._

_“Would you like to join our guild?”_

_Emi stood there in complete silence. They all stood there for a moment, waiting for any type of response from her._

_“Hey, uh Emi? Did we--”_

_“I can’t.”_

_Emi held her hands in tight fists as she began to walk away. Tears started to drip on her cloak._

_“Emi where are you--”_

_Emi kept walking until she had disappeared in the forest, not looking back._

_“Emi!”_

_Emi had sprinted through the forest and boarded the train back to Crocus. She sat in the back and tugged at her cloak as she waited for the train to stop. Tears continued to stream, causing an ache to pulse through her head._

\--------------------------------------

_It had been a month since the incident in the forest, and the group had not seen or heard from Emi at all. Kira and Ayame had been asking around to the townspeople asking if they had seen anyone in a cloak, but she couldn’t get any solid answers. Sting would go out everyday and try to pick up on her scent, but he couldn’t smell her anywhere._

_Emi was staying at a rundown inn at the edge of the town of Era. She had left Crocus days after the incident and had been hiding since. She was lying low in order to not attract any attention, especially from the Magic Council. Emi heard a cough and looked up to see another cloaked figure._

“No way!” Natsu yelled.

“Well, it seems that it is really a small world,” Erza observed.

_“Mystogan, it’s been a long time.”_

_The cloaked figure had sat down next to Emi and watched the stars with her._

_“What are you doing in Era?”_

_Emi laughed before turning her head to the stars._

_“I could ask you the same thing. Shouldn’t you be staying away from Jellal and not stay in the same city?”_

_He had stated that he was searching for the Anima and that there were a couple surrounding Era._

_“Are you going to go back?” Mystogan suddenly inquired._

_“What?”_

_“You’re running away again.”_

_Emi held her arms around her knees._

_“I’m not going to.”_

_“It seems you will be faced with the decision soon. And I’ve noticed that you’ve made no move to further hide yourself. I know you can sense that they’re going to arrive here soon.”_

_“I can’t put them in harm’s way, but I just don’t want to be alone anymore,” Emi croaked._

_“So protect them.”_

_“I’m not strong enough.”_

_“Then get stronger.”_

_Emi looked at Mystogan before taking off her hood to reveal her smiling face._

“You took off your hood for him and not us?!”

“Easy, Lector,” Sting reasoned.

_The two gave each other a quick hug and went their separate ways. Emi quickly put her hood back on before disappearing into the night._

\----------------------------------------------------

_“Do you really think she’s here?”_

_“I could smell her from the train station. She’s definitely here.”_

_“Finding her should be easy enough,” Ayame stated. “She’ll be the only one in a cloak.”_

_“What if she’s not wearing it? We’ve only seen her face once.”_

_“I can find her,” Sting added, rather seriously._

_“Sting, why are you getting so worked up about this?”_

_“We scared her. She ran away because she was scared. She said she was running from something and we pushed her too far.”_

_Someone whistled, making the group stop their conversation. There stood a cloaked Emi standing in the middle of an empty road. Kira had run up to her and pulled her into a tight hug. Once she pulled away, she smacked Emi on the head, causing the girl to whimper._

_“You had us scared to death. We’ve been looking for you for a month!”_

_Emi gave a lopsided grin and laughed._

_“I’m sorry guys. I just--”_

_Emi was cut off by all four of them squeezing her until she could feel the air escape from her lungs. She giggled at the four of them before prying herself out of the hug._

_“So...does the offer still stand?”_

_They all laughed at her before dragging her back to the train station._

\------------------------------------------------

_“Master Rue! We have a new member.”_

_“Welcome back, children. Where is this new member?”_

_Emi stepped from behind the group and slowly waved. Kira then briefed the master on Emi’s magic and her strength that she had witnessed. Master Rue smiled as he ushered Emi to go get her guild mark._

Everyone looked at the guild mark in confusion. 

“What guild is that? I’ve never seen that crest before.”

Makarov looked at the crest, slightly afraid.

“Don’t tell that’s the crest of--”

_“Welcome to Phoenix Wing, Emi!”_

\-------------------------------------

_“So let’s introduce you to everyone, ‘kay?”_

_All the members of Phoenix Wing stood around her._

_“I’m Rin. I use Gravity magic.”_

_“My name is Yuuki and I use Glass magic, which means I can basically turn smooth surfaces into glass.”_

_“Hi! My name is Ursa and I use Animal Taming magic.”_

_“The name’s Zack. I use Hypnosis type magic.”_

_“And I’m Mich. I work over at the bar, but I use Explosion magic.”_

_“And this is Master Rue,” Kira explained. “He’s a master at Space magic and Poison magic.”_

_“So,” Emi questioned, “the whole guild is eight people plus Master Rue?”_

_“Well now it’s nine people!”_

_“We might be small,” Mich started, “but we’re a fully fledged guild in Fiore.”_

_Emi nodded and smiled as she introduced herself to everyone._

\-------------------------------------

_“Lady Emiko! We have a surprise for you.”_

_Emi looked over to Sting and Lector and waited for them to catch up to her. They ran to her side and held out a box._

_“We got you a present. It’s a cool gadget thing. We, uh, didn’t know what to get you.”_

_Emi laughed and thanked them for the present._

_“So uh, can I maybe spend the day with you? Lector doesn’t feel that well so he can’t come.”_

_Emi glanced over and saw that Sting’s ears were a little red. Emi agreed to his company and brought him to her favorite bakeshop. Sting laughed at the familiar shop._

_“I didn’t know you still came here.”_

_“Of course I do. They have the best pies and they also have something else that’s the best I’ve ever had.”_

_They sat down at the corner table and waited for someone to come over to them. Sting ordered a piece of apple pie and Emi ordered apple ice cream. She had a childlike smile on her face as she waited for the ice cream to be served._

_“Apple ice cream? I didn’t even know that existed.”_

_“Apples are my favorite, so I couldn't wait when I heard that they came out with apple flavored ice cream. It’s actually really good.”_

_Sting chuckled at her enthusiasm and smiled when she happily thanked the waiter and began to eat. Emi noticed that Sting was staring at her and decided to address what she thought was the issue._

_“Did you want to try some? I can give you a little, but you have to let me have a piece of pie.”_

Emi smiled at the familiar actions, recalling how their “first” date began the same way a couple days ago. Lucy, Erza, Mira, Rogue, Lector and Frosch all looked on at the scene and looked at the smiling Emi and Sting.

_“Sure.”_

_Emi gave Sting a spoon of her ice cream and smiled brightly. Sting choked on the ice cream as he tried to eat it._

_“Wow. That’s certainly a flavor.”_

_“Do you not like it?”_

_Sting continued to cough as he tried to drown the taste with the water he had ordered. Emi looked down in defeat. Sting watched her saddened face and smiled softly._

_“No. It’s uh, good.”_

_“Well here. Why don’t you have some more?” Emi asked as she held out another spoon._

_“I’m uh...full.”_

_“But you barely ate anything.”_

_“I had a big lunch.”_

\-----------------------------------------------

_“They’re just so annoying sometimes!”_

_Emi and Kira were sitting in Kira’s apartment as she ranted about her parents._

_“Like I know that they love and that they think they know what’s best, but ever since my brother died they’ve been awful! They think they can control my life and always want to know where I am. I just wish they would--”_

_Emi was sitting on Kira’s bed with a downcast look as she listened to her friend’s speech._

_“Emi I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize.”_

_“Oh no, it’s fine! I was just taken back.”_

_Emi and Kira had told each other everything, so the purple haired wizard knew about her parents and how Delorca had destroyed her village._

_“Don’t worry about it. I had a couple of fights with my teacher growing up, so I can understand.”_

\--------------------------------------------------

_“So I was thinking and I think I need to show you something.”_

_Emi and Sting were sitting at a corner table in the bakeshop as they ate their usual. Emi asked him to elaborate, and Sting said that he thought they should go to the flower gardens at the palace. Emi gasped and quickly pulled the dragon slayer up and started to run to the gardens. Once they arrived, the guards said that they could not enter, as the gardens were closed. Sting went up to the guards and whispered something before slowly retreating to Emi’s side. The guard looked around and nodded before stepping aside._

_“You have thirty minutes.”_

_“Thanks man!” Sting exclaimed as he fist bumped the guard. “I knew you’d understand.”_

_“What did you say to him that made him change his mind like that?”_

_“Oh it was nothing,” Sting waved it off._

_Emi ran into the gardens and immediately started looking at all the different flowers. She gasped at the sights and turned to Sting._

_“This is absolutely amazing! Sting, look at them all!”_

_Sting laughed as he followed her around the gardens._

_“You see this one?” Emi asked as she pointed to an orange and yellow flower patch. “These are called a Coleus flower.”_

_Sting looked at the flowers and listened to her ramble about each one._

_“I think my favorite is catmint because of the color. I mean, look at them! Aren’t they beautiful?”_

_Sting couldn’t stop looking at her and he decided to try to ask what he’s been looking forward to all day. He turned to Emi and tugged her cloak so she turned to him. They looked at each other for a minute before Sting opened his mouth._

_“Emi, I was wondering if you wanted to maybe go--”_

_“Alright kids. Times up! Now get out before I get in trouble.”_

_Emi whined as she slowly exited the flower gardens. Sting glared at the guard as they left._

“Yikes. Talk about bad luck.”

“Shut up.”


	51. The Present

_“Lady Emiko, I wanted to know if you wanted to go on a job with me and Sting.”_

_“Of course, Lector. I’d love to go. What’s the job?”_

_Sting appeared behind Emi and explained, “It’s a flower arranging job right here in Crocus. Some lady wants us to pick out flowers for her front garden.”_

_“Really? That’s awesome! Let’s get going!”_

_“Emi, I wanted to ask you if--”_

_“No way, Kira. I already asked her to go on a job with me.”_

_“That’s so unfair. I told you I was going to ask her.”_

_“Well **I** asked her before you. Deal with it. We’re going to arrange flowers.”_

_Kira huffed before turning to Lector, “You make sure that idiot doesn’t do anything stupid.”_

\---------------------------------------------

_Emi and Sting were walking towards an unknown location. Sting had said that he was taking Emi to a place that she would really like. They had arrived at a tall hill on the edge of Crocus as Sting continued to pull her by her sleeve. Sting sat down on a grassy spot of the hill and patted the spot next to him. Emi occupied the spot and looked up at the sky. Sting glanced over at Emi._

_“Have you ever tried to look at the clouds? You can see all sorts of shapes up there. Like look at that one. It looks like a bird riding a carriage.”_

_Emi looked up at the sky and tried her hardest to imagine the different shapes._

_“I don’t see anything.”_

_“You have to let your mind relax. Don’t even think about it.”_

_Emi found a cloud and pointed, “That one looks like...a tree?”_

_“You think so? I think it looks more like a camel wearing a cowboy hat.”_

_“I was wrong?”_

_Sting looked over at her and saw that she looked frustrated._

_“No you’re not wrong. Everyone sees a cloud differently. It doesn’t really have a right answer. It’s just fun.”_

_“Does that one look like a sword?”_

_“Hmm. Maybe a little.”_

_“What do you see?”_

_“Onion farm.”_

_“No way is that an onion farm. It’s clearly a sword.”_

_Sting laughed as he saw the girl lay down on the grass and stare up at the sky._

_“Hey Sting! That one looks like a dragon.”_

_Sting followed her finger before agreeing._

_“This is fun. I like it.”_

_“I’m glad.”_

————————————-

_“Emi, you are officially my roommate.”_

_Kira and Emi were in the middle of a box filled room in Kira’s apartment. Emi sighed as she looked at all the boxes._

_“I didn’t even know I had this much stuff. I always stay at the inn.”_

_“Oh yeah. This isn’t all your stuff. I bought you some things as a house warming present.”_

_“Kira, only two boxes are mine. You bought five boxes of extra stuff?”_

_“Yes, but you’ll love it. I got you some new clothes and sheets and stuff. Here,” Kira started to pull something out of the box, “try this on.”_

_In her hand was a white two level dress with gold accents on it that formed a phoenix on the chest. It was paired with high socks and knee high boots._

_“Oh wow. That’s really pretty.”_

_“Thanks! I instantly thought of you. But this means that you at least have to keep your cloak unbuttoned so that people can see your outfit.”_

_“I’ll try.”_

——————————-

_“Emi I have this cool job that we can—“_

_Kira had barged into Emi’s room and saw that Emi was still changing. Her cloak layed on her bed and she was looking in the mirror. On her back were four long and deep scars. Emi whipped her head around to the door before turning towards her bed and covering herself with her cloak._

_“Sorry Emi. I should’ve knocked.”_

_“Did you...see?”_

_“Um, yeah.”_

_Emi looked down and started to cry. Kira looked at her with wide eyes and frantically asked her what was wrong._

_“You probably think I’m dirty now. That my scars are ugly.”_

_“Emi, is this why you always wear your cloak?”_

_“Partly.”_

_Kira walked up to her and held their pinkies together._

_“I promise I won’t tell anyone.”_

_Emi replies with a quick “thank you” before fastening her cloak and heading out to the job that Kira has picked out._

———————————

_“You have **got** to get over your motion sickness dude.”_

_“I don’t comment on your weak points.”_

_“That’s because I don’t have any.”_

_Sting looked up from the floor and rolled his eyes at the wizard with purple hair. The train shook, causing the dragon slayer to look like he was going to vomit. He was currently lying near Ayame’s feet._

_“You better not puke on my shoes.”_

_“Sting,” Emi softly whispered as she helped him off the floor, “you should at least sit on the seats. The floor won’t help.”_

_Sting groaned as she set him on the seat next to her. He looked to be calming down, but another shake of the train had him folded over himself as his upper body hung off the seat while he stayed in a seated position. Emi asked Lector to move off her lap, and he reluctantly did so and sat next to the window. Emi gently moved Sting’s shoulders so that he would sit up. She then guided him to lay his head in her lap. Sting groaned again from his body moving. After a few minutes, he had grabbed her waist and faced her stomach._

_“Hey dragon boy, hands off my roommate.”_

_The only thing heard from Sting in response was quiet snoring. Everyone looked with wide eyes at the sight of the dragon slayer not looking like he was sick out of his mind._

_Ayame was the first one to speak up, “That’s like...impossible.”_

_“Damn Emi, how the hell did you do that?”_

_“Lady Emiko is the strongest wizard ever! After Sting I mean.”_

_Emi giggled at Sting’s sleeping figure before turning back to the window. She pointed out the different types of trees to Lector, who listened intently. Once the train had arrived at the station, Lector helped to wake Sting and carry him off the train._

_“So dragon boy, didn’t know you had a thing for Emi until now.”_

_Sting’s face was engulfed by heat as he quickly turned to Kira, “I never said that!”_

_“Oh?” Ayame questioned with a smirk. “So you’re saying that you **don’t** like her then?”_

_“I never said that either!”_

\---------------------------------------------------

_“Let’s go losers, we have a job to do.”_

_“Kira, can we stop for a minute? Sting looks like he’s about to collapse.”_

_The three girls looked behind them to see that Sting was struggling to carry the luggage of all five people. Lector was floating beside him cheering him on. The dragon slayer was sweating, and they could all tell that he was having trouble with all the weight of the bags._

_“Fine. Sting! We’re taking a five minute break. Thank your savior.”_

_“Oh thank god.”_

_Sting had immediately dropped all the bags and plopped down on the ground. Lector told Sting that he was the strongest person in all of Fiore, which caused Sting to give the exceed a wide grin and a thumbs up. Emi walked over to the pile of bags and looked through them to find her latest book._

_“Thanks. I felt like I was about to pass out.”_

_Emi gave the dragon slayer a quick nod before continuing to rummage through the pile._

_“You looking for something?”_

_“I started reading a book on celestial magic.”_

_“That’s like a super rare type of magic right?”_

_Emi nodded and sat down next to Sting once she found her book._

_“Don’t go making out on my watch!”_

_They both looked at Kira who had her hands on her hips. Emi laughed before looking over to Sting and seeing that he was stumbling for an answer._

_“Are you feeling okay? You look sick.”_

_Sting looked away and mumbled, “It’s probably just the train ride.”_

————————————-

_“So how’s the research going?”_

_Emi was at the library in Crocus surrounded by books. She was sitting on the ground completely concentrated on only the book, so she didn’t hear him come in. He stood behind her before crouching down and looking over her shoulder._

_“That’s a pretty cool—”_

_“Holy shit! Sting, don’t do that!”_

_Sting laughed and gave a quick apology before sitting next to her. He looked over at her bright eyes as she read the different origins of gate keys. He loved to see her so excited, so he asked her to share._

_“Tell me about it.”_

_“Well there are golden gate keys and silver gate keys. The golden gate keys are for the Zodiac spirits.”_

_“What’s a Zodiac?”_

_“It’s basically the major star constellations. You know, ones like Aries, Cancer or Gemini. Pisces is also part of the Zodiac spirits. That’s the one that was in the story I read Lector.”_

_“So they’re the golden ones?”_

_“People commonly think that there's only twelve gold keys because of the twelve Zodiacs, but there’s actually a thirteenth gold key.”_

_“Thirteenth?”_

_“It belongs to the Snake Charmer. Isn’t that cool? It’s like a secret spirit that nobody knows about!”_

_Sting laughed before laying down beside her with his hands under his head._

_“You sure know a lot about celestial magic. Are you going to try to use a spell?”_

_Emi giggled before shutting her book._

_“I can’t do any spells with celestial magic because I’m not contracted to any spirits.”_

_“Oh yeah,” Sting blushed, “I knew that.”_

———————————————

“This is really cool to watch,” Yukino commented as the group wanted for the next memory. 

“It’s like a movie!” Natsu yelled. 

_“Lady Emilio! I need your help!”_

_Emi had jumped out of bed at the sound of a panicked Lector. She quickly made her way to the open window to see the exceed floating with wide eyes._

_“What’s wrong? What happened? Did you get hurt? What—”_

_“It’s Sting’s birthday tomorrow and I have no idea what to get him!” Lector cried._

_“Sting’s birthday?”_

_“I need you to help me pick out a present for him.”_

_Emi smiled before buttoning her cloak and meeting Lector at the door. They began to fight the crowds in the city center and ended up by a weapon shop._

_“Lector look!”_

_Lector hovered over to the stand and saw that Emi was holding a battle axe roughly her height. The exceed sweatdropped._

_“Um, Lady Emiko, I don’t really think Sting would use that.”_

_“I’m not saying he’ll use it.”_

_“Then why would we—“_

_“He’ll eat it!”_

Everyone looked to Emi to see that she was holding Lector as they laughed at the memory. 

“You were going to get me an axe so I could eat it?”

Lector and Emi looked at the dragon slayer and nodded. 

_“What about this?”_

_Emi held up a picture of a dragon. Lector laughed._

_“That’s a little too literal, Lady Emiko.”_

_Emi let out a defeated sigh before something caught her eye in a window._

_“This is perfect!”_

_Lector went to ask what it was, but Emi had already ran into the store. She came out carrying a small bag. Lector asked her to open the bag and he gasped when he saw what was inside._

_“Don’t you think he’ll love it?”_

“Suspenders?” Lucy inquired.

“You got Sting suspenders for his birthday?”

Emi and Lector turned to the group and started to defend their choice. 

“Look!” Emi shouted. “He’s wearing them right now! It was obviously a good present.”

Everyone looked towards Sting who had moved closer to the two of them. He slung his arm around Emi’s shoulders and gave them both a side hug. 

“I came to love them.”

_Lector looked at the suspenders with wonder._

_“It’s definitely the perfect present.”_

_They both smiled at each other and gave each other a high five._

——————————

_“Sting!”_

_The dragon slayer looked over his shoulder and waved at the cloaked figure. Lector was on top of Sting’s head, but quickly flew off to go meet Emi halfway. Emi ran to Sting and gave him a quick hug from behind. Sting stiffened at the sudden contact and started to heat up._

_“Happy birthday!”_

_Emi and Lector stood side by side in front of Sting as they handed him a wrapped box._

_“Uh, what’s this?”_

_Lector and Emi spoke in unison, “It’s your present!”_

_Sting chuckled before taking the box and starting to open it._

_“Wait!”_

_He turned to Emi and waited for an answer._

_“We wanted you to open it on that hill you showed me.”_

_“Why?”_

_“Because I...kind of wanted to watch the clouds again.”_

_Emi was blushing, but nobody could see because of her hood. Sting agreed and pulled them to the hill. Once they were there, Emi ran to the top of the hill and waved for the two to follow her. Lector snatched the box from Sting and flew up next to Emi._

_“Jeez. You guys are awfully excited.”_

_Sting jogged to the top of the hill to meet them and sat down next to Emi. Lector gave Sting back the box._

_“Well…”_

_“...Open it!”_

_Sting looked between the two of them and chuckled before startling to unwrap the box. He looked confused at the gift before he lifted the suspenders out of the box._

_“Uh...suspenders?”_

_Lector and Emi both nodded enthusiastically as they waited for a reaction._

_“They’re, uh, very nice.”_


	52. Emi's Birthday

_“So…”_

_Emi looked up from her book and raised an eyebrow at Kira._

_“Is there something you need?”_

_“Let’s get to know each other better. I mean, we do live together and I know barely anything about you.”_

_“That was my goal. People shouldn’t know things about me.”_

_“What’s your favorite color?”_

_“Yellow, but it has to be a certain shade. I don’t like banana yellow.”_

_“Why not?”_

_“My teacher made me eat a banana everyday before training. He said it was ‘a good source of energy’ or something.”_

_“Gross. Let’s see,” Kira concentrated, “What is your favorite animal?”_

_“Frog.”_

_“When’s your birthday?”_

_“I don’t know.”_

_Kira was about to ask the next question but quickly stopped._

_“Wait wait wait. How do you not know when your birthday is?”_

_“The last time I celebrated my birthday was when I was five, and I don’t remember when it was.”_

_“We’re celebrating your birthday this year. We’ll pick a day to be your birthday.”_

_“Just a random day? Don’t you think she--”_

_Both girls jumped at the voice and found Sting sitting in the window._

_“Get out of my window, you idiot!”_

_Sting grinned before jumping into the apartment and sitting on the floor in front of the two._

_“What do you think you’re doing?”_

_“You said to get out of the window, so I did.”_

_“I didn’t mean to come inside!”_

_Sting shrugged and looked over to Emi with a grin on his face before laying down._

_“So what’s this about finding you a birthday?”_

_Emi and Kira stayed silent._

_“Aw come on guys. I just want to help. I love parties.”_

_“Knock it off, dragon boy. You’re not part of this. This is for best friends only.”_

_“Best...friends?” Emi stumbled._

_Kira looked over at Emi with a smile before repeating what she said._

_“No way. Lector and I are her best friends.”_

_Kira and Sting started glaring at each other._

_“I go on more jobs with her than you.”_

_“We have a special hang out space.”_

_“She lives with me.”_

_“She likes Lector and me better.”_

_“She takes off her cloak when she’s around me.”_

_“She--wait, what?”_

_Kira smirked in victory before wrapping her arm around Emi’s shoulders._

_“I told you. We’re best pals and you can’t even compare.”_

\-----------------------------------------------

_Emi strolled through Crocus and made her way to the guildhall. Kira had told her Master Rue called a mandatory meeting to go over some important matter. She opened the heavy doors to the hall and screamed in surprise as all the guild members shouted._

_“Happy birthday, Emi!”_

_Emi looked around and saw that every wizard was present. She couldn’t help the tears that escaped as she stood there and took it in. Kira and Ayame ran over to Emi and hugged her tight._

_“We wanted to surprise you!”_

_“You certainly surprised me. How did you do all this without me knowing? You were always with me.”_

_“Sting actually helped get everything ready. And he actually did a decent job so I’m impressed.”_

_Emi laughed and looked around for Sting to thank him._

_“Um, where is he anyway?”_

_Kira laughed as she looked behind Emi to see Sting out of breath. He managed to get out a short sentence between his pants._

_“I...forgot your...present.”_

_“Well it’s about time, idiot. You missed the big surprise.”_

_Sting glared at Kira before yelling, “I thought I asked you to hold her off so I could be here.”_

_“Yeah well I couldn’t control her walking pace. Not my fault you left without her present.”_

_“Present?”_

_Sting and Kira stopped bickering at the sound of Emi’s voice. Ayame walked back over to the three of them._

_“Of course there’s presents, Emi! It’s your birthday...Well your designated birthday at least.”_

_“Okay everyone,” Master Rue called, “let’s get this party started!”_

_“Master Rue, you were in on it too?”_

_“I always love to see my children enjoy themselves, so of course I helped when Sting and Kira came to me about this event.”_

_“See, Emi? Isn’t a guild a great place to be?” Kira and Sting asked with wide smiles on their faces._

Everyone looked at Sting before Natsu asked why he had changed so much.

“You used to care about your guild mates, so what made you change to only caring about yourself?”

Sting looked at Natsu before denying the fire mage an answer and watched the memory.

_It was towards the end of the party when everyone suggested that Emi start opening presents. She awkwardly sat at a table as people stacked presents in front of her. Everyone laughed at the faces she made as she watched the pile grow._

_“You guys didn’t have to get so many. This must’ve been a lot of jewel.”_

_Ayame pushed her to open the presents, and Emi reluctantly agreed. She was shocked at all the different items she got. She opened Ayame’s present._

_“It’s a container with fog in it.”_

_“It’s actually a gas that I made. It’s one that makes people fall asleep without any dreams.”_

_Emi smiled and thanked her, telling her that she would use it often. Ayame gave her a quick hug before handing her the next present. Kira clapped in excitement, signalling that it was hers. Emi laughed at her enthusiasm and began to unwrap the box._

_“It’s a bow.”_

_“It goes in your hair. It’s matching mine!”_

_Kira spun around and pointed to the white and gold bow that held her ponytail. Ayame decided to ask if she would ever use it, saying that nobody ever saw her hair from under her cloak. Kira smirked._

_“She can wear it when it’s girl time with me. Then we can really match!”_

_Kira went over and gave Emi a fist bump before handing her the last present. Sting and Lector watched her intently as she started to gently open the box. Emi’s eyes lit up when she grabbed what was in the box._

_“How did you know I wanted this?!”_

_Sting and Lector laughed before Sting told her that he saw her frequently going into the shop and picking it up. Kira looked over Emi’s shoulder to try to see what it was that made her so happy. She saw a book with an outline of a dragon on the cover._

_“It’s a book all about dragons. Dragon types, dragon history, dragon magic, dragon origins, dragon--”_

_Sting chuckled as he listened to the excitement in her voice. She eventually calmed down and started to go around and thank everyone. She approached Ayame, Kira and Sting and gave them all tight hugs. She turned to Lector and opened her arms, causing the exceed to fly into her arms. Everyone laughed at him, as he was always acting “tough” around everyone._

_“So now that the party is over, what do you wanna do?”_

_Emi turned to the group and excitedly told them that they should go get ice cream. They all agreed and Kira and Ayame started walking towards the center of town to the popular ice cream stand. Sting and Lector started walking in the opposite directions towards the outskirts of town._

_“Where are you guys going?” Sting asked the girls._

_Kira turned around and sassily spoke, “To the ice cream stand, duh.”_

_Emi giggled before explaining that there was a special ice cream flavor at the shop on the edge of town. Kira and Ayame looked at each other before following the dragon slayer to the bakeshop. Emi ran to the doors of the shop before walking through the door as the little bell on top dinged._

_An older woman smiled at her and Sting and said, “Well hello you two. It’s nice to see you again. Your usual?’_

_Emi nodded before motioning to Ayame, Kira and Lector._

_“Oh! Is it a double date tonight? How fun.”_

_Sting and Emi blushed at the assumption, Sting quickly shutting it down._

_“Oh ho ho,” Ayame giggled. “Sting’s been bringing Emi here for quite some time then.”_

_Kira gave Sting a sly look, making Sting blush again._

_“Lady Emiko, Sting! You came to get ice cream without me?” Lector cried._


	53. Job With Kira

_“This has to be the best request ever. It asks specifically for a water mage.”_

_Kira was staring at the request board at the guild. She picked the water mage request and handed it over to Mich before telling Emi to pack her bag._

_“I’m coming?”_

_“Of course! It’s been a while since it was just us on a job. It’ll be fun. Plus it’s hot out and you can take your cloak off when we camp tonight.”_

_The two walked back to their apartment and packed the necessities for the job. They passed Sting and Lector fighting over what type of pie was best, and they decided to pull Emi and Kira into the debate as well._

_“Emi, you have to tell Lector that the best pie is shepherd’s pie!”_

_“Kira, please tell Sting that it’s pumpkin!”_

_Kira and Emi looked at each other before looking back to the two bickering partners. Kira immediately sided with Lector just because it would be disagreeing with Sting. Emi looked confused with the situation before looking at Sting._

_“Um, is shepherd’s pie even considered a pie?”_

_“Of course it is. It has pie in the name!” Sting defended._

_“Hey idiot, when people say pie they think of dessert, not a stupid shepherd’s pie.”_

_“I think you and Lector are both wrong. Apple pie is the best.”_

_The three others looked at her before Kira smirked._

_“There you go, Emi. You tell them.”_

_Sting grumbled something under his breath._

_“I’m sorry, dragon boy, what was that?”_

_“Shepherd’s pie is a pie.”_

\-----------------------------------------------------

_“I can’t wait to do this job with you.”_

_“Why are you so excited?”_

_“I love going on jobs with you. You’re like the sister that I’ve always wanted. Plus you always have some new spell that you learned that you can show me when we fight.”_

_“Like a...sister?”_

_Kira stopped walking and turned back to Emi._

_“You’re the only one who isn’t phased by my personality and you’re always fun to be around. I know that you don’t really like people to get close to you and that it’s taken this long just for you to take off your hood around me and I just want you to know that it makes me so happy that you trust me. I know that I can be an asshole sometimes but--”_

_“You know, I never had a sister before. I was always curious what it would be like to have one.”_

_Kira processed her answer and smiled brightly before taking Emi’s hand and dragging her to the train._

_“This is going to be so fun!”_

_Emi giggled before following along. The train ride was filled with random conversation until Emi asked what the request was about._

_“It says on the paper that it requires a water mage to help a dam hold. Apparently the town is built on the other side of a failing dam and they’re worried that it will flood them out. I figured you’d be able to help out with that Ice Wall spell that you’ve been working on.”_

_“Seems interesting enough.”_

_“Hey,” Kira giggled, “these train rides are a lot calmer without Sting.”_

_Emi returned her laughter and looked out the window and stated, “Yeah, but I do kind of miss pointing out trees to Lector. He seems to enjoy that.”_

_“You seem to like those two a lot.”_

_Emi continued to look out the window and elaborated, “They’re very entertaining to watch. I haven’t been around a lot of people, especially not anyone as energetic and easily distracted as them. I guess I just enjoy seeing all kinds of people.”_

\----------------------------------

_“Man this is kind of weird without Sting carrying all our shit.”_

_Emi tittered and said that Sting was probably relieved that he didn’t have to come. Kira turned around with a smirk, but did not elaborate. The two set up their campsite and sat around the fire._

_“Your fire spells sure come in handy.”_

_“You think so? Fire magic is kind of hard for me, so the spells are weaker. If I were to go up against a fire mage I don’t think I would do well.”_

Natsu started to laugh maniacally, causing Lucy to scold him. He turned to Emi.

“That means I can totally kick your ass. Once we get out of your mind, we’re fighting!”

Gray groaned, “All you think about is fighting.”

“Deal.”

“Emi, you don’t have to give into him!” Lucy objected. 

_“What about that Armageddon spell?!”_

_“I haven’t practiced it enough, so I’m still not able to use it.”_

_“Hey you two!”_

_Emi and Kira looked towards a bush to see a group of people hiding. Four men walked out, one holding a sword. Emi quickly put on her cloak and faced the group. Kira started stomping over to them._

_“Look what you’ve done. You ruined our girl chat.”_

_The man with the sword jumped at Emi._

_“The girl in the hood goes first. She looks weak enough to cut down in one blow!”_

_Emi stayed completely still as the swordsman charged at her. Kira looked over at Emi and started laughing at the man._

_“Why are you laughing, you red eyed freak?”_

_“Your buddy over there chose the wrong target.”_

_“What do you--”_

_“Fluctus inpulsa!”_

_A burst of lightning struck the swordsman and threw him back, hitting one of the other men. Emi then turned to the leader and pointed at him. The man flinched a little before asking what she wanted._

_“Kira,” Emi spoke from in front of her, “you take care of the leader. I’ll handle the short one and the one that’s trying to look cool wearing a bandana on his head.”_

_Kira laughed before getting into a fighting position and waving the leader on. The leader charged at the girl with the purple hair and cast an invisibility spell._

_“Crap.”_

_Kira scanned the area for the wizard but could not find him. She heard movement to her left and struck the direction with one of her water spells._

_“Rushing waters!”_

_The man’s invisibility was canceled by the water, revealing his figure to Kira. She aimed another wave at him, causing him to be pushed further back. She looked over at Emi to see how she was doing and found her fighting off the two members at the same time._

_“Emi, you need any help? I got this guy cornered.”_

_“Wind blade!”_

_A sword of wind appeared in Emi’s hands as she swung it at the two enemies. She looked over towards Kira and asked her to repeat herself._

_“I said I think it’s time to finish this. What do you say? Time for the combo?”_

_Emi laughed and swung the blade at the wizards one more time before jumping over to Kira and putting their hands together._

“Juvia wants to know if they’re doing a unison raid.”

“Sure looks like it,” Cana stated. 

“I never knew you guys could do a unison raid,” Sting laughed.

_The two girls faced the group and cast their spells._

_“Cloudkill!”_

_“Mass drown!”_

_“Unison raid: poison waters!”_

_The group dropped to the ground as they choked for air. Emi and Kira cheered as they walked back over to the fire._

_“Well I guess this means we have to move locations now. These guys give me the creeps.”_

_“What gave that away?” Emi joked. “Maybe it was the fact that they attacked us?”_

_Kira gave a lopsided grin as they started gathering their stuff._

_“I mean,” Emi noted, “it’s pretty close to sunrise. We might as well stay up.”_

_“If Sting was here he would be complaining.”_

_“But he’s not.”_

_“I guess I have to take that role then,” Kira started before whining. “Can we please go back to sleep?”_

_Emi snorted before telling Kira that they could get the request done sooner and then she would pay for both of them to eat at Kira’s favorite diner in Crocus. Kira groaned and agreed reluctantly._

_Once the two had made it to the town, they were briefed by the person who had made the request._

_“So basically,” Kira stated, “we’re plugging it up.”_

_The two had arrived at the edge of town where the dam was. Kira shook her head at the dam._

_“What?”_

_“Why would they build a town right next to a dam? That’s just asking for trouble. Whatever. Let’s just do this so we can eat.”_

_Kira and Emi stood on top of the dam’s gates and cast their spells._

_“Ice wall!”_

_“Water gate!”_

_With their spells, the water was forced back into the dam and an ice wall held the water in place until Emi was able to construct a new one with her Iron Wall spell. They high fived and quickly made their way back to town to collect the reward. The train ride was mostly just Kira talking about what they were going to do once they got back._

_“And I was thinking that maybe we could get an ice cream after we ate, but not that weird apple shit that you like. We’re going to the one by the palace. And then maybe tomorrow we cou--”_

_“Actually I told Sting and Lector I would go food shopping with them tomorrow.”_

_“Food shopping? Really? Those two actually cook and not just eat out every night?”_


	54. Job WIth Sting

_“What the hell happened to you?”_

_“We took a job and Sting broke his arm.”_

_“Way to go, idiot.”_

_Sting grumbled before Kira poked his arm, causing Sting to hiss in pain._

_“Kira!” Emi scolded. “Don’t do that. You’re going to make it worse.”_

_“How did you even manage to break your arm?”_

_“ **Someone** was drunk and decided to stand at the edge of a cliff and the edge broke from a Vulcan and she fell.”_

_“Sting totally jumped into action and saved Yame from falling! He’s the strongest wizard ever!”_

_“Did you pull your arm or something?”_

_Ayame spoke up, “He jumped off the cliff and took the brunt of the fall. We ended up banging off the wall of the cliff.”_

_“What a hero,” Kira sarcastically replied._

_“Sting,” Emi spoke quietly as she neared him, “let me see your arm. I may be able to help.”_

_Sting looked at Emi before grunting and sitting down at a back table at the guildhall. When he was seated, Emi asked him to remove his shirt, which made him blush a deep scarlet. Kira whistled._

_“Emi, you're acting very forward today. I’m sure Sting would be more than happy to though, right dragon boy?”_

_Emi rolled her eyes but nobody could see. She gently moved his arm. Sting hissed again as he felt extreme pain._

_“I’m sorry, but it’s going to hurt a little.”_

_Yuuki had come back from a job and saw what was happening and smiled._

_“Did you guys finally get together?”_

_Sting answered a little too quickly saying that she had the wrong idea and that he had a broken arm. Mich howled from the bar._

_“Mister Bigshot got hurt huh? About time it happened. I’ve never seen someone as reckless as you.”_

_Sting glared at Mich before crying in more pain as Emi started pulling on his arm a little harder than before._

_“Ayame, do you have any types of gas that would numb the pain?”_

_“I can certainly try. Hey Sting, I’m really sorry.”_

_Ayame created a gas and aimed it at Sting. The dragon slayer seemed to relax a little as the gas started to lessen the pain. She put her hands so they were hovering over his arm and started a spell._

_“Sanatio Aqua.”_

_At her command, water started forming a bubble that encased his arm. The gas wore off and Sting’s discomfort returned. It was a lot less than before as he felt the bones starting to heal. Sting looked on in awe as she moved the water to fix his arm._

_“You’re really good at this. I can’t feel anything now.”_

_“Don’t say that yet.”_

_“Huh?”_

_In one swift moment Emi had forced his arm back into the socket. Sting screamed in pain and tried to catch his breath._

_“Sorry.”_

_“It’s...okay. I can handle...it.”_

_“Lady Emiko, is he going to be alright?”_

_“Don’t worry, Lector. A broken arm never killed anyone. He should heal in no time. But,” Emi turned to Sting, “you shouldn’t be so reckless.”_

_Sting grumbled and put his head on the table._

\------------------------------------------

_Sting stood in front of Emi, nervously scratching the back of his head._

_“Hey, uh Emi, I was wondering if you wanted to maybe go on a da--”_

_“Emi! We need to go food shopping. We have like no food left.”_

_Sting glared at Kira as she stood beside him. Emi agreed and said goodbye to Sting before following Kira in the direction of the food shops._

_“What were you two talking about? He seemed super uncomfortable.”_

_“I have no idea. He was asking me something but he never finished.”_

\-----------------------------------------

_“Lady Emiko, will you come on a job with Sting and me?”_

_“Sure. What is it?”_

_Sting spoke up from behind her, scaring her, “It’s a detail. Some guy was caught robbing different magic shops and they need us to escort the guy to the Magic Council.”_

_Emi looked uneasy at the mention of the Magic Council._

_“Actually, I don’t think that--”_

_“Please Lady Emiko. We haven’t been on a job with you in forever.”_

_Emi finally agreed and they set up a meeting place for the next day. When morning came, Emi made her way over to the guildhall where Sting and Lector were waiting. She waved to them before leading the way to the train station. Sting groaned as soon as he saw the train._

_“Do you know why you have such severe motion sickness?”_

_“It’s because I’m a dragon slayer.”_

_Emi nodded before Lector pushed Sting onto the train. He had immediately slinked onto the floor when the train started to move. Emi waved Sting to sit next to her. The dragon slayer forced himself off the floor and sat next to her, leaning on her side to stay upright._

_“Lie down.”_

_Sting fell on Emi’s lap as he continued to groan. Emi felt Sting’s breathing to slow down, signalling that he was falling asleep. The white haired woman sighed before turning to Lector and shrugging._

_“Lady Emiko, can you tell me a story? I’m bored.”_

_Emi softly smiled before sharing with him the history of the different types of lost magic. Lector carefully listened as the scenery passed by the windows._

\---------------------------------------------------

_“I’m Emi, what’s your name?”_

_“Emi, I don’t really think that we’re supposed to be friends with this guy.”_

_Emi looked to Sting before telling him that she was trying to be nice so that the prisoner would be less likely to try to hurt them._

_“Lady Emiko, I don’t think that’s how bad guys work.”_

_Emi mumbled, “You guys always tell me to be nicer and the moment I try I get yelled at.”_

_The three of them sat in the carriage across from the prisoner and made idle conversation. While battling his motion sickness, Sting kept talking about a new technique combo that he and Lector had discovered. Emi was half listening while she kept an eye on the prisoner. Suddenly the prisoner punched Sting in the stomach, causing the dragon slayer to bend over in pain. He had escaped the carriage and started running towards the forest._

_“Are you going to go after him or not?” Sting groaned as he tried to catch his breath._

_Emi looked out the window before sighing and jumping out of the carriage to pursue the prisoner. She quickly caught up to him and stood in front of him before cracking her knuckles._

_“So how do you want to do this?”_

_The prisoner had made one swift movement and grabbed the sleeve of Emi’s cloak. The cloak had been torn off her, revealing her face and body. Emi gasped and kicked him in the gut. Sting and Lector had caught up the pair and detained the prisoner again. Once they had tightened the cuffs, they had looked towards Emi._

_“Hey are you o--”_

_Sting’s eye went wide as he looked at Emi without her cloak. He couldn’t speak, too shocked to find words. Emi glared at the dragon slayer as she picked her cloak up off the ground. She fastened the buttons before violently dragging the prisoner to the carriage and throwing him in. She looked at him and sneered._

_“Pathetic.”_

_“Hey little lady, I never would’ve guessed that there was a hot woman underneath that cloak.”_

_Emi growled and kicked the man in the shins as she sat down, causing him to scream in pain._

_“They never said we needed to deliver you in good health. They just said to make sure you didn’t escape or die.”_

_Sting had finally reached the carriage and climbed in to see the prisoner cowering in fear as he looked at Emi with wide eyes and a face full of sweat. Sting sighed as he sat next to Emi._

_“Man you sure screwed up, buddy. There was no chance of you getting away from her.”_

_Lector flew into the carriage and sat on Emi’s lap._

_“That was so cool, Lady Emiko. You totally took him down with one shot. And you didn’t even use magic!”_

_Emi stayed silent for the rest of the ride to the Magic Council. Sting couldn’t see her face, but he saw the tension in her shoulders as she sat stiffly. He looked at her with worry. Once they got to the Magic Council, Emi threw the prisoner down on the ground in front of the soldiers. She then turned and walked into the town of Era._

_“Emi, wait!”_

_Emi ignored Sting’s calls and disappeared into the town. She had made her way to the town’s edge and approached a small cliff. She let out a breath when she saw who she was looking for._

_“So what’s the problem, Emiko?”_

_“Can’t I just call my friend to talk while I’m in town, Mystogan?”_

_The cloaked man laughed as Emi walked to be beside him._

_“You seem troubled.”_

_Emi looked forward as she spoke, “My cloak was ripped off by that prisoner. Three people saw what I looked like, and who knows who else was following.”_

_“Two of them were close friends of yours and--”_

_“I don’t even take off my hood around them, much less my entire cloak. The only one who’s seen me is Kira.”_

_“Had to happen at some point.”_

_Emi groaned, “You’re not helping.”_

_Mystogan laughed before reminding her that they were her friends and that she shouldn’t be so worried about it. She sighed and sat down._

_“You should’ve seen that look on their faces,” Emi joked._

_“I’m sure they were just shocked.”_

_“Shocked is an understatement. Their mouths hung open and it took them a few minutes to even move.”_

_“You must be very pretty then.”_

_“Jellal! Knock it off!”_

“Wait, you knew that Mystogan’s real name was Jellal?” Lucy questioned. 

Emi smiled before telling the group that she spoke to him often and that they had grown close.

“That’s so unfair!” Natsu complained. “We totally should’ve known before you.”


	55. The Hood

_“Emi!”_

_Emi glanced over her shoulder at the dragon slayer._

_“Where’s Lector?”_

_“He said he needed to do something, so I figured we could hang out since everyone else is on jobs.”_

_“Okay.”_

_“I mean I know you really don’t—”_

_Sting looked at her for a moment as he tried to process her uncommon response. He gave a childlike grin and dragged her to his apartment. Emi looked at the building confusion._

_“Um, why are we here?”_

_“Oh I just need to get something. Did you wanna come up?”_

_Emi stared at the building before slowly following the dragon slayer inside._

_“You better not try anything, Sting.”_

_Sting looked at her with a huge blush on his face as he struggled to find words. Emi stood behind him and gently pushed him forward to continue walking._

—————————-

_“Didn’t I just help you shop for food the other day?”_

_“Yeah but we ran out of stuff.”_

_Emi sighed before following the blond through the crowds to the market._

_“I’ll never understand why it’s always so crowded.”_

_Sting laughed before replying, “It’s the flower capital of Fiore. Everyone wants to be here.”_

_“I don’t get people.”_

_“I know.”_

_The pair gathered food for Lector and Sting for the week. They were just about done when Emi spotted a stand with apples. She looked at the stand before turning to walk away. Sting had caught her stares and walked over and bought two apples. He caught up to Emi and handed her an apple while smiling._

_“Caught ya looking at it with stars in your eyes. Here.”_

_Emi carefully took the apple from his hands and smiled at the dragon slayer. They made their way back to Sting’s apartment and put away the groceries._

_“I knew that your apartment would be messy, but this looks so much worse that I imagined.”_

_“Hey!” Sting defended. “It’s not that bad.”_

_Emi turned to Sting and held up a pair of pants that was on the floor. She raised an eyebrow once she got a whiff of the odor radiating off the clothing._

_“How long has this been here?”_

_“Uhh…”_

_“Have you done laundry at all recently?”_

_“Of course I have!”_

_“Then when did you do it?”_

_Sting looked away in embarrassment before mumbling that he had done some a month ago. Emi looked at the dragon slayer in shock._

_“Are you serious? A **month**?”_

_“I never have time!”_

_“Maybe you should take a day off every week from jobs so you can actually make your apartment livable. How does Lector feel about this?”_

_As she asked, she spotted a pile of white vests in the corner._

_“You have got to be kidding me. You and Lector are disgusting.”_

_Emi turned and started to walk out of the apartment._

_“Hey, where are you going?”_

_“I’m going to get trash bags. By the look of your overflowing garbage can and the mess that’s scattered around the kitchen I’m assuming that you don’t have any.”_

_Emi returned with the roll of trash bags and emptied the trash in the garbage can first. She walked over to the dumpster next to the building and then started to work on the trash thrown in random directions._

_“Um, you don’t have to—”_

_“I know I don’t, but I can’t allow Lector to live like this. I don’t get how you both can’t smell that. I mean you guys both have a heightened sense of smell, which makes me even more concerned about how long this had been going on.”_

_Sting’s face flushed and he looked away for a second._

_“Well?”_

_“Huh?”_

_“Grab a bag and start packing. You should put Lector’s vests in one bag and your clothes in other ones.”_

_“Why can’t I just put them both in the same bags?”_

_“Lector’s vests are white, which means the colors of your clothes might run off to his vests. I don’t think you would want to ruin his clothes, do you?”_

_“Really? I didn’t know that.”_

_“Have you never done laundry in your life?”_

_“I told you I did it last month! Plus Lector does his own laundry.”_

_“Put your towels in one bag, shirts in another and pants in a new one.”_

_Once Emi had finished picking up the trash, she had started to wash the giant pile of dishes left in the sink. Emi cleared her throat to bring attention to herself and Sting turned around to see that she had her hands on her hips._

_“Do you not wash dishes either?”_

_“I ran out of dish soap.”_

_“That’s what the store is for.”_

_Emi checked the cabinets and sighed after seeing that there were no dishes left._

_“I’ll be right back. Please continue sorting.”_

_Emi quickly ran to the market and picked up dish soap and returned to the apartment to see that Sting had fallen asleep on the floor while holding a bag full of clothes. Emi rolled her eyes and stepped in front of him before kicking him in the shins. Sting jolted away and looked around frantically to see what happened. Emi stood there and shook her head._

_“I leave for ten minutes and you decide to take a nap?”_

_Sting rubbed the back of his head and apologized. Emi opened the bag and showed him that she bought the dish soap._

_“I also bought you some disposable plates and cups so that you don’t have to wash dishes after coming back from a long mission.”_

_“You know, you really don’t have to do all this.”_

_“You’re my friend and I can’t allow you and Lector to continue living like this.”_

_“Holy shit,” Sting breathed._

_Emi stopped and looked at the dragon slayer._

_“What?”_

_“You said we were friends.”_

_Emi’s eyes snapped down to the ground._

_“Well...aren’t we?”_

_Sting walked up to Emi and ruffled her hood before giving her a reassuring smile._

_“Of course we are.”_

_Emi played with her fingers for a minute before taking in a deep breath. Sting looked at her concerned before he saw her reaching for the edges of her hood._

_“Emi, what’re you…”_

_Emi slowly removed her hood from her face, revealing a hesitant smile. She kept her hands around her hood in case she needed to put it back on. Sting stood with wide eyes as he looked at her._

_“Why?”_

_“Because we’re friends. And friends should trust each other.”_

_“You’re not gonna put it back on?” Stign asked, confused as he watched her turn back to the sink and continue washing dishes._

_“I think I’ll keep it off for a while. It gets hot.”_

_Sting grinned before Emi yelled at him to get back to work._

_“Yes, ma’am!”_


	56. Eviction

_“Emi!”_

_Emi scanned to find the source of her name and saw that Ayame was calling her over to the bar._

_“What’s up Yame?”_

_“You’re coming out with me tonight. We’re gonna drink until we puke!”_

_“Yame,” Kira laughed, “I don’t think she looks like someone who can handle as much as you.”_

_“Nonsense!”_

_Rin gave Ayame a side look before he called over to Sting._

_“Hey blondie, can your girlfriend handle her booze?”_

_“Shut up! She’s not my girlfriend!”_

_Emi looked at Sting in confusion._

_“I’m...not?”_

_Mich and Rin looked at each other before giving Sting a sly look. Sting’s face tinted a dark red. The dragon slayer walked up to Emi and held her shoulders._

_“Emi, why would you even think that? We never...said that.”_

_Emi started sniffling, which drew the attention of the entire guild. Emi never cried, so everyone was shocked to hear her. Mich glared at Sting with a look that started to make him sweat._

_“Emi, I don’t really unders--”_

_“I thought you said I was last night.”_

_Sting’s mouth dropped. He stumbled for an answer as Rin started to move towards the pair. He put a hand on Emi’s shoulder and looked at her seriously._

_“Did he touch you, Emi?”_

_“Um, yes?”_

_Rin and Mich started to move towards Sting when it all clicked in his head._

_“Emi, you are my friend. But being a friend and a girlfriend are completely different things.”_

_“Huh? But aren’t I a girl?”_

_Everyone sweatdropped before Mich and Rin sighed in relief and went back over to the bar._

_“And you all thought I was oblivious,” Yuuki mumbled._

_Ayame decided to help, “A girlfriend is when you’re dating someone.”_

_“...Dating?”_

_“Are you serious? You don’t know what dating is either?”_

_Emi looked down apologetically, “I’m sorry. I didn’t really get to spend a lot of time around people growing up, so I still don’t know a lot about people and their cultures.”_

_Kira had slipped into the guildhall after returning from a job and caught the tail end of the conversation._

_“I leave her alone with you for one day, dragon boy, and you’ve already made her cry.”_

_“What? No! I didn’t. It’s just a misunderstanding!”_

_“Everyone was helping me understand why I’m not Sting’s girlfriend.”_

_Kira blinked a couple of times before smirking at the dragon slayer._

_“It’s because he’s a scaredy cat with no balls. Don’t worry, Emi. It’ll happen soon.”_

_Sting’s blush returned full force as he started to yell at Kira._

_“Ayame, I’m still very confused.”_

_“Don’t sweat it. All you need to know is that you’re drinking with me tonight.”_

\-----------------------------------------------------

_“Oh man. Guess they were right when they said you couldn’t hold booze.”_

_Emi was face down on the floor as she winced in pain._

_“Emi, how about we go home?”_

_“No! I wanna stay more.”_

_“Emi, you can’t even stand up anymore. Come on, I’ll carry you.”_

_“I wanna...stay.”_

_Ayame went to try to pick Emi up, but she herself had way too much to drink and didn’t have the strength to lift the cloaked girl. She looked around for a familiar face but couldn’t see anyone. Ayame sighed before grabbing Emi by the feet and beginning to drag her out of the bar._

_“Hey lady! What are you doing here at night? You need someone strong to help you?”_

_Ayame rolled her eyes at the group of men before continuing to drag her friend._

_“Oh come on, let us help you with your friend. He’ll probably thank us later.”_

_“Go away.”_

_“Ayame…where are we going? I wanna...go back to the bar.”_

_“Dude, it’s a girl. Why don’t you let us help you two ladies get back home? We’d be more than happy.”_

_“I told you to go away. We can handle ourselves.”_

_The two strangers went to grab Emi from Ayame’s hand, but her grip didn’t waver. One of the guys kicked Ayame in the stomach, making her slump over in pain. The other man grabbed Emi and pulled her up so that their faces met._

_“You’re gonna have a better time with us than that buzzkill.”_

_“Emi!”_

_Emi’s head rolled over to Ayame before slurring, “You guys think you can handle someone like me?”_

_The guys smirked, taking her question as flirting and assured her that they would love to. Emi shrugged out of their hold and put her hands on her hips._

_“I’ve been….reading this...book on dark...magic recently.”_

_Ayame realized what she was about to do and screamed for her to stop._

_“Ev..iction!”_

_“Emi no!”_

_Ayame could see the men fall over before writhing on the ground._

_“Emi, stop! They’re not wizards!”_

_“Then...why did they pick...a fight?”_

_“Emi? Is that you?”_

_The two girls looked over to see Sting and Lector._

_“Sting! You have to stop Emi’s spell right now!”_

_Sting looked at Emi before following Ayame’s finger towards the two men in pain. His eyes went wide as he ran over to Emi and shook her._

_“Emi, you gotta release the spell now. They’re not going to hurt anyone anymore.”_

_Emi’s head rolled as she went to say something. However, she passed out before she could speak anything, releasing the spell. The two guys stopped screaming and lay still on the ground._

_“Are they, like, okay?”_

_Sting looked at them quickly before shrugging, “They’ll be fine eventually. We better get her home before she destroys half the city in the state she’s in.”_

_“Note to self,” Ayame stated, “never be around Emi when she’s drunk. She’s apparently the fighting type of drunk.”_

_“Especially with that kind of spell.”_

_“You know what that spell is?”_

_“Yeah,” Sting explained, “I took her to the bookshop and she picked out a book on dark magic. Eviction is a difficult spell to master, so I don’t know if she would’ve actually been able to finish it. Though it looked like it was working.”_

_“What does it do?”_

_“It separates the soul from the body,” Sting stated seriously._

_“Holy shit. So she was literally going to kill them?”_

_“Most likely.”_

“You seem to have a lot of fatal spells,” Erza observed.

“Wouldn’t you if demons were after you?” Gray defended.

“I mean,” Gajeel added, “she is a demon slayer. She’s meant to kill.”

_“Oh man,” Ayame groaned, “this is all my fault.”_

_“Let’s just get her back home before anything else happens.”_

_Ayame picked herself up from the ground and looked over to Emi. She asked Sting to grab one side of her so that they could walk her back, but Sting said that he could bring her back while Ayame got checked out at the infirmary. When she asked Sting how he was going to drag her back all the way across Crocus, he shrugged his shoulders before scooping Emi up so his hands were on the back of her knees and supporting her neck._

_“Cain?”_

_Sting looked down in surprise and whispered, “No it’s Sting.”_

_“I want to see Cain.”_

_“Who’s Cain? I can try to find him tomorrow if you want.”_

_Emi pushed her head into Sting’s chest before mumbling something. Sting tried to ask her again, but he was cut off by Emi’s harsh tone._

_“You can’t find him. He’s dead.”_

_Sting went to respond, but instantly stiffened at her next words._

_“Sting? Can I stay the night with you?”_

_“Uh, I don’t have another bed for you. Why don’t you just stay in your bed tonight?”_

_“Please? I don’t want to get yelled at by Kira. I’ll sleep on the floor.”_

_Sting sighed before turning around and heading into the direction of his apartment. Sting had set Emi on his bed and went to sit on the couch before he felt her grab his wrist. He went to tell her to go to sleep when he saw tears roll down her neck._

_“Uh, Emi?”_

_“Please don’t leave. Everyone always leaves.”_

_Sting sat down on the floor in front of the bed and let her hold his arm while she slept._


	57. Contact

“Damn. The memory changed.”

“What’s the problem with that, Mira?”

Mira looked defeated as she responded to Gray, “I wanted to see how they acted the morning after the last memory!”

“But why does that matter? She was just going to wake up.” Natsu looked confused.

“You two,” Mira stated seriously while pointing a finger at them, “tell me what I missed!”

“Uh, we woke up and then she left?”

“That’s it?! No realization that you were in love? No acting awkward because you had seen her so vulnerable? No--”

“I did have quite a headache the next morning, but that’s about it.”

_“Can either of you tell me why we’re leaving on a job at three in the morning?” Sting moaned._

_“We need to make it to the town by ten,” Emi said simply._

_“Shut it, dragon boy. You had your sleep. Don’t be such a baby.”_

_“What did you just say to me?”_

_Kira and Sting glared at each other as they got closer._

_“I said you’re a big baby.”_

_“Look who’s talking, Miss I Cried the Whole Way Here.”_

_“At least I know how to not complain the entire time.”_

_“Well I know how to not be annoying.”_

_“Really? You really have the balls to say that you’re not annoying?”_

_“You better listen closely when I say that--”_

_“Knock it off!” Ayame screamed. “It’s way too early for this.”_

_“It’s true. If you don’t want to be bothered by one another then just don’t talk to each other.”_

_Kira and Sting both grumbled before continuing to follow the group._

_“Sting?” Emi suddenly spoke from the front of the group. The dragon slayer jogged to catch up to her so he could see what she wanted. “Where’s Lector?”_

_“Oh!” Sting grinned and opened up the bag he was carrying on his back, revealing a sleeping Lector inside. “He doesn’t like early mornings and he had a lot to eat last night, so I told him I would carry him.”_

_“Hey lovebirds, where exactly are we going?”_

_Sting turned around and was going to continue to argue with Kira, but Emi grabbed him by the ear and told him to keep walking._

_“We’re headed to a fishing town called Hargeon. They need help catching a rare type of fish that lives in the harbor. Apparently it only swims into the harbor once every eight years.”_

_“Fishing? We got up at three for a fishing job? Emi!” Kira complained._

_Sting gave Kira a side smirk before observing, “Now look who’s complaining.”_

_**“Sting.”** _

_Sting looked to Emi frightened by her cold tone. He gave a nervous chuckle before agreeing to stop arguing._

_“Oh thank god,” Ayame breathed. “Emi, you saved me magic energy from putting those two to sleep.”_

“You’re actually really intimidating, Emi,” Lucy affirmed.

“Do you really think that?”

“Well obviously not now, but you definitely were.”

Sting started laughing as he countered, “She never completely gets rid of it. You’ll see.”

\-----------------------------------------------------------

_Kira and Emi were sitting across from each other on the floor of their apartment. Emi’s cloak was off and laying on the couch beside them._

_“Why’re we on the floor?”_

_“Well,” KIra started, “I found this cool thing that allows you to speak with the dead and we’re totally going to try it.”_

_Emi stiffened before asking if she had heard her right. Kira explained that it was an item that could bridge the two worlds and allow communication between them. Emi looked unsure, but Kira had told her that it would be fun._

_“I’ll go first,” Kira announced._

_“Is it just random dead people?”_

_“No, I’m contacting my brother.”_

_Kira put her hands over the device and slowly mumbled a few words before the lacrima started to shake. She smiled as she saw her coat lift off the couch. Emi looked on in horror._

_“See? I told you. Now it’s your turn.”_

_Emi stared at the lacrima before turning to look outside the window. She took a deep breath before putting her hands over it like Kira. She mumbled the same spell and waited. Suddenly, all the lights went out and the window flew open. Emi looked down at the lacrima just in time to see it burst into blue flames. Emi panicked before ending the chant._

_“Holy shit!” Kira yelled in excitement. “Who the hell did you call? That was amazing!”_

_“It was nobody,” Emi explained._

_“Are you kidding? That was definitely someone wicked powerful.”_

“Woah,” Natsu gasped as he turned to Cain, “that was you? That was awesome!”

Cain laughed before telling the fire mage that he was able to have that much power because he was a demon. 

“Demons overpower other spirits in terms of power, so I was able to release more once I was called.”

\------------------------------------------------------------

_“You’re coming with us.”_

_Emi looked behind her as she was walking through the streets. It had gotten dark out, so she could only make out the outlines of three people that stood in front of her. She crossed her arms and asked them what they wanted._

_“Gluttony says hi, girlie.”_

_Emi stiffened as she looked around, careful to not reveal anything if people were around. She sighed in relief once she saw that the streets were empty. She turned back to the three and asked them why Gluttony sent them to see her instead of just coming himself._

_“We came to give you a warning. Gluttony has been looking forward to seeing you since you took out Greed and Pride. They were close friends of his. Just know that he’ll be with you soon. We were finally able to find you. You didn’t make it easy.”_

_“That was the point,” Emi growled. “Let me guess, you’re on your way to report back to Gluttony to tell him where I am?”_

_“Of course! That’s what Master Gluttony wanted us to do.”_

_Emi smirked and uncrossed her arms._

_“So that means if I kill you, he’ll never know where you found me?”_

_The three looked uneasy as they stared at her getting into a fighting stance. They gulped and started to run away, but Emi had started to cast a spell._

_“Earthworm!”_

_The ground started to form into a twisting form of rubble, knocking all three of them off their feet. She stood over them._

_“You are all pathetic,” she whispered as she started to move her hands in a twisting motion. “Turbinis!”_

_Dust and rocks started to form a powerful tornado that hit the men head on. She looked at the unconscious figures before casting one last spell._

_“Acid burst.”_

_An orb of acid formed in her hands before she pushed it towards the figures. The acid started to take effect. Emi watched as their bodies slowly dissolved, hearing their screams of pain._

_“I’m sorry,” Emi whispered, “but I can’t let you hurt my friends.”_


	58. He Tried, He Really Tried

_“ I can’t believe it’s already been five months since we met you. I feel like I’ve known you since forever...”_

_Emi laughed as she listened to Kira gush over their friendship._

_“...And I mean the adventures that we went on have been amazing…”_

_Emi looked out the window at the beautiful autumn leaves._

_“...But don’t tell him I said that.”_

_“Huh?”_

_Kira rolled her eyes before pointing at Emi, accusing, “You weren’t even listening!”_

_Emi rubbed the back of her head, apologizing to her best friend. Kira sighed before standing up and offering Emi her hand._

_“Wait. Don’t tell who you said what?”_

_“Doesn’t matter. I guess that was a sign that I really shouldn’t have told you.”_

_Emi whined as she tried to get Kira to repeat herself, but the purple haired wizard wouldn’t budge. They heard a knock, so Emi went to answer the door. She found that there was nobody there, which caused her to look at Kira in confusion. Kira simply shrugged her shoulders. The two wizards heard the knock again, but Kira didn’t turn towards the door. She whipped her head towards the window and saw Sting crouching on the window box with a grin on his face._

_“How many times do I have to tell him to use the door?!”_

_Kira stomped over to the window and roughly opened it, causing the dragon slayer to fall in._

_“What the hell do you think you’re doing? You have some nerve showing up at our--”_

_“Hey Emi. Long time so see.”_

_“Are you ignoring me?!”_

_“Sorry. Did you say something?” Sting sarcastically asked as he put his hand around his ear to form a listening gesture._

_“Why you little--”_

_“It’s okay, Kira,” Emi soothed. “He was just picking me up so we could get going before everyone starts to crowd the city.”_

_“Huh? Where are you going? Why wasn’t I--”_

_Kira looked at Sting with a smug expression before crossing her arms._

_“Ah. I see.”_

_Emi looked confused, but Sting caught on. He started blushing before saying that it wasn’t like that, causing Emi to become more confused. Sting turned to Emi and ushered her out the door before Kira could say anything else._

_“Oh sure, **now** you use the door.”_

“Sounds a lot like Natsu and Happy, don’t you think, Lucy?”

“Tell me about it.”

\------------------------------------------------------------

_“Do you think he would like this?”_

_Sting and Emi were walking through the different stores trying to find a birthday present for Lector. Emi had pointed out a coupon for an all you can eat fish meal. Sting laughed before telling her that he would never leave the diner if they did that._

“See, Natsu! Everyone likes fish,” Happy pointed out. 

“Happy, you’re so right!”

_“What about this?”_

_Emi held up a white hat. Sting looked confused before telling her that he never wears hats._

_“Yeah but it’s the same color as his...oh my gosh I know what to get him!”_

_Sting was taken back by her sudden burst of energy. Emi had sprinted off in the opposite direction, causing Sting to yell and run after her. He eventually found her near a clothing stand._

_“There you are. You shouldn’t run off like th--”_

_“Look what I found! It’s perfect.”_

_Emi held up a blue vest in Lector’s size. She waved it around before the vendor put the vest in the bag. Emi thanked him and grabbed Sting before dragging him through the crowds._

_“Don’t you think he’ll love it?”_

“Lady Emiko picked out my favorite vest.”

“Hey, I helped!”

“From what I could see,” Rogue smugly smirked, “Emi was the one who picked it out before you even got there.”

_Sting chuckled at her enthusiasm before agreeing that it was a great present. He asked her where she was dragging him to, but Emi wouldn’t answer. She eventually stopped in front of a building before jumping onto the roof. She motioned for Sting to follow her, which he did after taking a quick look at all the staring people._

_“You know that everyone is staring at you, right?”_

_“They do that all the time. I don’t mind. It’s not like they can see me anyway.”_

_Sting looked over at her and saw that she had sparkles in her eyes._

_“Um, what exactly are we doing up--”_

_“To look at the flowers, duh.”_

_“What do you mean?”_

_“Look over there.”_

_Emi pointed in the direction of the palace. Sting could see that they had a partially blocked view of the royal gardens. Sting smiled softly._

_“If you wanted to see the flowers so bad, why didn’t you just go into the gardens instead of watching from a building?”_

_“I’ve been trying to get in, but they said I’m ‘too suspicious’ with my cloak on. They said they were worried about the king or whatever. From here I can see some of the flowers.”_

_“Why don’t you just take--”_

_Emi looked down and squeezed her hands together._

_“I can’t.”_

_Sting sighed and turned towards the gardens._

_“You know, this is actually a beautiful view.”_

_Emi stayed silent for a minute before turning to Sting._

_“What would happen if I died?”_

“I’ve seen this one before.”

Everyone turned to Emi as she looked down.

_“Huh? What brought that on?”_

_Emi turned to Sting and sighed._

_“Everyone I love ends up leaving me, but I think it’s my turn this time.”_

_“What does that mean?”_

_“I’m in danger and some powerful people are after me. I’m just saying that it’s a big possibility that I end up dying, and I want you to be prepared for that.”_

_“I promise you,” the dragon slayer started as he held both her hands, “I won’t let anyone hurt you as long as I’m alive. You can count on that.”_

“That’s the promise that both you and Arthur made to me, and the words touched me each time you said it. It reminded me of my past, but it also saddened me to see that two people would die for me.” 

_Emi looked at him as she started to cry. She was barely able to make anything put between her sobs, showing how much his words had affected her. She finally managed to say two words._

_“Thank you.”_

\--------------------------------------------------------

_It was a few days after Sting made his promise, and he started to act strange around Emi. Emi had noticed and was starting to question what was happening._

_“Kira, I just don’t get it.”_

_“Don’t even worry about him. He gets all weird sometimes.”_

_“But why?”_

_“Who knows. I just blame it on him being a dragon slayer. And if that doesn’t make sense for the time then I say it’s because he’s an idiot.”_

_“Yo.”_

_The two girls turned around to see Sting crawling through their window. Kira punched him in the gut when he stood up, causing the dragon slayer to moan in pain._

_“Sting,” Emi started, “why are you here? And why not use the door?”_

_Sting was still trying to catch his breath, so Kira spoke up._

_“He doesn’t use the door because he’s rude and an idiot.”_

_“I...came to...hang...out with you.”_

_Kira smirked before slapping Sting on the back and making him groan in discomfort again._

_“It’s about time, dragon boy.”_

_“If you wanted to hang out, why didn’t you just wait until we came into the guildhall?”_

_“Because...ow...I wanted to hang out with you now.”_

_Emi looked to Kira before shrugging her shoulders. She walked over to Sting and gently pushed him on the couch. She sighed before giving a small glare at the laughing Kira._

_“Sanatio Aqua.”_

_“Thanks, Emi.”_

_“Aw come on. You could’ve at least let him be in pain for a few more minutes.”_

_“What did you just say? Once I’m healed you’re in for some real trou--”_

_**“No fighting.”**_

_They both looked at each other before they both let out a small “humph” and turned away from each other. Emi rolled her eyes and finished the spell, causing a sigh of relief to escape Sting. He jumped off the couch and asked Emi if she was ready to go. When she asked him where they were going, he said that they were going for ice cream. Emi’s eyes lit up and she quickly buttoned her cloak and put her hood on before running out the door._

_“You really love that ice cream, don’t ya?”_

_Emi smiled as she continued to eat the apple ice cream._

_“It’s the most wonderful flavor I’ve ever tasted. I never got to do this with Ca--”_

_Emi looked down, cutting off her own sentence. She seemed to have become sad at the thought of her old friend. Sting looked on with a sad look as he felt the pain that she experienced._

_“You know, just because they’re dead doesn’t mean that they’re not in your heart.”_

_“Huh?”_

_“I lost someone very important to me, and I miss him everyday. But I know that he cared about me until the very end and that he would want me to be happy. I’m sure the person you lost cared about you the same way.”_

_“He died protecting me from those monsters.”_

_Sting looked like he wanted to ask her to elaborate, but he could see by the way she was sitting that she was in no mood to talk about it. He gently kicked her shin to draw her attention before pushing his apple pie towards her. When she gave him a questioning look, he shrugged and said that she could finish it._

_“Sting, you don’t have to--”_

_“I’m stuffed. Can’t eat another bite. You don’t want me to puke right?”_

_Emi sighed before looking up at him one last time. She asked him if he was sure, and he reassured her that he was full, crossing his arms as further proof. She smiled and ate the rest of the piece of pie. They left the bakeshop and went to the hill._

_Once they got to the hill, Sting faced Emi._

_“Listen, I was wondering if you wanted to go on a--”_

_Sting’s stomach betrayed him and decided to grumble._

_“Sting! You said you were full.”_

_Sting rubbed the back of his head and laughed as he tried to cover his ass by saying he was full at the time. Emi stood with her hands on her hips before dragging him to the center of Crocus._

_“Emi, I just wanted to ask you--”_

_“You can ask after you eat something.”_

_Sting groaned before letting her give him food that she had bought at a nearby cart. Once she was satisfied with the lack of hunger displayed by the dragon slayer, they made their way back over to the hill. Sting took in a breath and faced Emi._

_“I was trying to ask you if you--”_

_“Sting! Lady Emiko! There you are.”_

_Sting looked over to see Lector flying towards them. The dragon slayer mumbled something before noticing that there were tears coming from the exceed’s eyes._

_“What’s wrong, buddy?”_

_“These guys were making fun of me because I can talk!” Lector cried._

_Emi wasted no time in going up to Lector._

_“Where are they?”_

_Lector told them where he came from and guided them to the place where it had happened. Lector pointed out the guys that he was talking about. Emi walked over to the guys, anger radiating off her. The guys turned around just in time for Emi to kick them both in the groins, causing them to fold over in pain as they screamed._

_“Uh, Em?”_

_Her eyes narrowed as she prepared a spell._

_“Emi, stop! They’re not strong enough.”_

_She ignored them and placed her interlocked hands above her head. Sting went to push her so her spell would cancel, but she had already started the incantation. Emi smirked devilishly as she stared down the two sweating guys._

_“Rupti sunt.”_

_They screamed in horror as her hands started glowing and a beam shot out into the sky. Everyone looked confused when they saw it explode once it reached high enough. Sting and Lector looked at each other, clearly confused._

_“That was a…"_

_“...Firework?”_

_The two guys had passed out from fear, making Emi clap her hands together before turning back to Lector and Sting. She smiled at them and giggled._

_“I sure scared them, didn’t I? I’m surprised they didn’t shit themselves.”_

_“Lady Emiko, we really thought you were going to hurt them.”_

_“I only hurt when I have to, but I wasn’t going to let them continue harassing you and making you cry. I read about that spell in a performance magic book and I wanted to try it. It’s like a recreational spell I guess.”_

_“You’re the kindest wizard ever! Even more than Sting!”_

_Sting looked at the exceed in shock._

_“Hey, you always put me first. What gives?”_

\----------------------------------------------------

_“So, Emi. About what I was going to say.”_

_Sting and Emi were walking back to the guildhall after a long day._

_“Hm? What was it?”_

_“I wanted to ask you--”_

_“There you guys are. We’ve been waiting for you all day. Master Rue wanted to have a meeting tonight.”_

_Sting’s eyes started to twitch as he glared at Mich._

“I never thought it would be that difficult to ask someone out,” Laxus chuckled.

“That’s what you were trying to do the whole day?” Emi giggled. “How aggravated were you after all that?”

“Sure, sure. Laugh it up. Mock my pain.”


	59. Mira's Delight

_“Chritsmas! Christmas! Lady Emiko, it’s Christmas!”_

_Sting ran to catch up to Lector as he flew towards Emi at top speed. Lector smashed into Emi and caused her to fall down in the snow. Sting finally caught up to them, but he tripped over Emi’s foot and also fell down. Sting helped Emi up and she looked at him before she started to giggle. Sting raised an eyebrow at her._

_“Why are you laughing? You fell too.”_

_Emi got closer to Sting before putting her hands in his hair. The dragon slayer blushed at the lack of distance between them._

_“You have snow in your hair.”_

_“Lady Emiko! Are you coming to the party tonight?”_

_“Party?”_

_Sting shook off his blush before explaining that Phoenix Wing always holds a special party on Christmas day._

_“It’s going to be super fun. You have to go!” Lector screamed._

_Emi giggled again before following the pair to the guildhall. Sting opened the door and revealed a fully decorated hall, complete with balloons, ribbons, lights and a tree in the corner. Emi looked around in awe before she was hugged from behind. She turned her head around and saw that Ayame was holding her waist._

_“I just wanted...to tell you how much I love you!”_

_Yuuki and Ursa sighed before dragging Ayame back to the bar._

_“Well it’s about time you three got here. What took so long, dragon boy? Had to spend some **time** together?”_

_Sting glared at the smirking Kira before walking over to the corner to put a present under the tree. Kira grabbed both of Emi’s hands and dragged her over to the corner where Master Rue was sitting._

_“I found her!”_

_“Um,” Emi started hesitantly, “was I supposed to bring something?”_

_“Nonsense. It’s only for the people who want to do it.”_

_“Don’t worry Emi. I brought a present for you to give. I knew that those idiots wouldn’t tell you.”_

_“Child,” Master Rue commented, “it’s very nice to see you today.”_

_Emi smiled brightly as she gave the master a quick hug._

_“Emi, Kira! Come here! We’re going to play a game.”_

_The two looked at a drunk Ayame before shrugging their shoulders at each other and joined the group. They explained that they were going to be playing truth or dare. Kira smirked devilishly and Emi looked on in confusion._

_“Truth...or dare?”_

_“It’s a game where you take turns telling each other what to do. If the person picks truth, you get to ask them a question and they have to answer truthfully. If they pick dare, you get to tell them to do anything you want and they have to do it. The punishment for not answering a truth or doing a dare is that you have to take a shot. Believe me, it’s super fun.”_

_Emi nodded, still confused. Kira guided her to the circle, sitting down between Rin and Ayame. Yuuki went first when Rin asked her which option she wanted. She was dared to lick Ursa’s nose and she did so without a problem. She then asked Rin to try to peel a banana with his feet. Ursa had dared Ayame to moonwalk everywhere for the rest of the night, so she did so on her many trips to the bar. Ayame asked Yuuki what her biggest turn on was, causing Yuuki to take a shot instead of answering._

_“Sting!” Mich picked out. Once Sting had picked dare, Mich told him to take off his pants._

_“No! Please Mich. Don’t make him do that. I don’t wanna see anything from dragon boy.”_

_“I wouldn’t want you to see anyway!” Sting defended as he took a shot._

_Rin dared Ayame to not drink for the rest of the night, making the entire group laugh when she took a shot. Ayame turned to Kira and dared her to do a handstand and walk around the guildhall. Kira had almost made it all around when she dropped._

_“Does that still count?”_

_Everyone shrugged and agreed that it was close enough. Kira turned to Sting._

_“I dare you to stay quiet the rest of the game.”_

_Sting glared at the wizard with purple hair before taking a shot._

_“Damn,” Kira whispered. “I thought it might work.”_

_“Emi! Truth or dare?” When she chose to do a truth, Ayame asked her, “What’s your biggest regret?”_

_Emi stayed silent for a minute before looking Ayame in the eyes._

_“I regret not being strong enough to protect the ones I held dear.”_

_Kira glared at Ayame before asking her what she wanted to choose. She dared Ayame to pretend to be a cat until someone called on her again. Kira turned to Emi and said that it was her turn again, and Emi chose dare, not wanting to answer any more questions._

_“I dare you,” Kira ordered with a smirk, “to fight Sting.”_

_Everyone let out a cheer and went outside where the fight would take place. Sting looked at Kira with an unknown emotion as he stepped in front of Emi. Emi turned to Kira._

_“Is this...to the death?”_

_Everyone gasped before quickly telling her it wasn’t and that it was just for fun._

_“Fight for...fun?”_

_Everyone sweatdropped before Master Rue explained that the fight would be until someone couldn’t fight anymore or if someone forfeited. He made sure to add that they weren’t fighting to seriously hurt each other._

_“Uh guys, I think I’ll take a shot. I don’t really wanna--”_

_“Are you scared to fight her, dragon boy?”_

_“What? No, I just--”_

_“I wish to fight you, Sting.”_

_Sting looked at her with an open mouth before looking at the rest of them and sighing._

_“Let’s get this over with then.”_

_Emi and Sting stood a few feet apart before they were told that they could start. Emi stared at Sting, daring him to make the first move. Sting let out a breath and used his White Dragon Roar. Emi countered with her Tidal Wave spell, utilizing the water in the snow. Sting jumped out of the way and cast Holy Ray. Emi’s eyes widened before she tried to avoid the hit. She was hit in the arm, causing her to hiss._

_“Hey are you oka--”_

_“Blizzard!”_

_The snow on the ground started to rise and form a wall of rushing snow. Sting couldn’t see anymore because the blizzard was so thick. Emi rushed at him and cast her Frostbite spell, successfully freezing Sting’s feet to the ground._

Everyone watched as Emi took an all too familiar stance with her hands together.

_“Ice Make: Knuckle!”_

_At Emi’s command, ice formed in the shape of fists and rushed towards Sting._

“Where did you learn how to use Ice Make magic?” Gray asked in shock.

“I read it in a book and I wanted to try it,” Emi shrugged. 

Gray looked at her in disbelief. 

_“Shit,” Sting muttered._

_Sting fired another Roar to break the ice attack. He was finally able to free himself from the ice that forced his feet to the ground. He cast his Holy Ray and aimed it at Emi._

_“Acid--”_

_“Emi, no fatal spells!” Kira scolded. “This is just for fun.”_

_Emi stopped the spell as she realized what she was doing, but didn’t turn back in time to fully dodge the attack. The Holy Ray hit her arm in the same place as the last one._

_“Ice Missile.”_

_Ice spikes went flying towards Sting. He had no time to react, so he ended up being pinned to the ground by the ice. He squirmed a little before realizing that he wouldn’t be able to move._

_“Water Rush.”_

_Emi had gathered the water from the snow into a massive cloud of water. It fell on Sting who used his Holy Breath to try to dissolve it. He looked at her from his pinned position on the ground and aimed another Holy Breath at her. Emi smirked before taking in a deep breath._

_“Water Roar!”_

“WHAT?” Natsu, Wendy, Gajeel and Rogue exclaimed.

Laxus looked on in shock and Sting smiled.

_“Is that...dragon slayer magic?” Kira and Ayame asked in disbelief._

_The Holy Breath and Water Roar hit each other and went back and forth before they formed into smoke. Sting looked at Emi with wide eyes and an open mouth. Emi jumped to where Sting was pinned and crouched down next to him._

_“Did you want to end the match?”_

_Sting groaned before putting his hands up in defeat. Emi released the Ice Missile spell and held her hand out to Sting so she could help him up. Emi smiled at him before walking over to the group._

_“Emi, you totally kicked his ass!”_

_“But I didn’t win.”_

_Everyone looked at her in confusion before telling her that she was clearly the winner._

_“You had him pinned! He couldn’t move. How could you have not won?”_

_Emi lifted up her arm to show where Sting’s attacks had landed before answering, “I was the one who suffered the most damage, so I lost.”_

_“Emi, that’s not really--”_

_“You said this was fighting for fun, right? I don’t mind losing if I had fun doing so.”_

_Sting stepped so that he was facing Emi and looked at her with serious eyes._

_“How did you do that?”_

_Emi looked back at him and asked, “Do what?”_

_“That water breath attack. That’s dragon slayer magic.”_

_Emi smiled and explained, “I’ve been studying different magics with breath attacks and found a journal on water jets. I figured that I could pair it with some dragon techniques. It’s not dragon slayer magic. It’s just a water jet breath.”_

_“Child,” Master Rue interrupted, “may I ask why you only used water-based spells?”_

_“I wanted to only use one type of magic so that way it would be a fair fight. Since Sting can only use his dragon slayer magic, I figured that I would only use water-based magic.”_

_Kira laughed loudly before turning to Sting and howling, “Did you hear that, dragon boy? She let you have the advantage of her limited spells and you still lost.”_

_“But he won,” Emi reminded her._

_“Emi, you’re the only one who thinks he won.”_

\---------------------------------------------------------

_Everyone was leaving the guildhall, leaving Kira, Emi and Sting to clean up._

_“I’m so tired,” Kira complained. “Why did we get elected to clean everything up?”_

_Emi didn’t look up as she answered, “Everyone else has to leave in the morning for jobs. We have the day off tomorrow, so I told them that we would take care of it.”_

_“Emi!”_

_“We’re basically finished, so it’s fine if you go back to the apartment. I’ll catch up with you once the guildhall is clean.”_

_“You don’t need to tell me twice. Night, dragon boy. I’ll see you later, Emi.”_

_“You can leave as well if you want.”_

_Sting laughed, “I’m not leaving you alone to clean up a mess you didn’t even make.”_

_Emi nodded before turning back to picking up cups. Sting had continued to sweep the floor. Emi called over to Sting and asked him to bring her a trash bag as he stood at the bar. He brought over the bags and went to turn around._

_“Woah woah woah,” Kira spoke from the door. “What do you think you’re doing just walking away?”_

_Sting and Emi jumped at the sound of Kira’s voice. Emi asked her why she wasn’t on her way home like she said she was._

_“I forgot my coat, and I’m so glad I did.”_

_“Huh?”_

_Sting looked at her just as confused as Emi before asking, “What are you talk--”_

_Kira smirked before pointing up at the ceiling. There stood a piece of mistletoe hanging above the pair. Sting gaped and turned a bright red._

“YES!” Mira yelled a little too excitedly. 

“Uh, Mira?” Levy questioned.

Mira squealed, “It’s finally happening! I’ve waited so long to see this happen.”

Emi and Sting looked at each other before their faces heated up.

“Uh,” Sting started, “do we really have to watch things like this?”

“Unfortunately, we have no control over which memories play out,” Levy explained.

Sting and Emi both turned a bright red as they tried to not let their nerves show. Cain smirked.

“Oh this should be fun.”

_“I don’t understand.”_

_Kira explained, “It’s mistletoe, Emi. It’s a plant that comes around Christmas time and whoever stands underneath it has to kiss each other.”_

_“I never realized such a plant existed. Does it really have the power to make people kiss?”_

_“Uh, well no. The plant doesn’t really do that. It’s a tradition to kiss under it though.”_

_“Oh,” Emi said as she turned to Sting, “do you participate in this tradition as well?”_

_Sting was staring up at the mistletoe before he began to speak._

_“It’s not really--”_

_“Everyone does, Emi. It’s like a cultural tradition. You’ll get bad luck if you don’t.”_

_“Bad luck?” Emi stayed silent as she thought for a moment, fear tinting her voice. “I can’t afford to have bad luck in my situation.”_

_Kira smirked before replying smoothly, “Exactly. So the only way to avoid the bad luck is if you two kiss.”_

_“Emi, we really don’t have to--”_

_“I cannot have bad luck, Sting. People will die.”_

_“What’re you--”_

_“Just do it, dragon boy.”_

_“Uh, I don’t really think--”_

_“Kira, how do you kiss?”_

_“Wait!” Sting nervously questioned. “You’re not actually going to--”_

_“Don’t worry, Emi. Sting knows. All you have to do is copy him.”_

_“Kira!”_

_“Just do it, you idiot. It’s not like you don’t like her.”_

_Sting took a deep breath before grabbing Emi’s shoulders gently. She looked at him and waited for him to do whatever a “kiss” was. He looked off to the side to try to hide his scarlet face before turning back to her._

_“Um,” Sting awkwardly added, “we can’t really do this with your hood on. Can I, uh, take it off?”_

_Emi nodded and Sting slowly grabbed the edges of the hood before pulling it back._

_“Come on already! I want to go to bed!”_

_Sting glared at Kira, yelling back, “You’re not even supposed to be here! It’s not my fault you came back.”_

_Sting looked back to Emi and saw that she was looking at him. Sting sighed before slowly moving them closer together. Emi looked at him expectantly as she felt Sting’s heart start to beat exponentially faster than before._

_“Uh, is there any way you can close your eyes?”_

_Emi looked up at Sting before shrugging and slowly closing her eyes._

_“Hurry it up! Don’t make me step in.”_

_Sting glared at the purple haired wizard once more before turning back to Emi. He hesitantly held her head with one of his hands and used the other to go under her chin before slowly bringing her face closer to his. He tilted her chin and gently brought their lips together. He held them there for a few seconds before pulling away. Emi fluttered her eyes open and met his causing both of them to blush. Sting turned his head to the side for a minute. Emi looked up at him before she spoke._

_“You smell nice.”_

_Sting’s face burned as he looked back at her to see that she was smiling brightly._

_“Thank you for not giving me bad luck, Sting.”_

_“Okay kiddies! Time for us to go to bed!”_

_Emi nodded before putting her hood back on and following Kira out of the guildhall, leaving a nervous dragon slayer alone with his thoughts. Emi and Kira strolled through the snow before finally reaching their apartment. They were currently changing into the sleep clothes when Emi spoke to Kira._

_“Kira, are there any other situations that people would have to kiss?”_

_“You really don’t know about any of this stuff, do you?” Kira laughed. “You kiss when you really like someone.”_

_“Would I kiss you then?”_

_“It’s when you like someone romantically. Like when you’re dating someone.”_

_Emi nodded before slipping into bed._


	60. How Dare You Set Us Up

_“Hey Emi, we’re going on a mission later today. Wanna come?”_

_“We?”_

_“Lector, me and the idiot.”_

_Emi shrugged before agreeing and following Kira to the guildhall. Kira discreetly gave the request paper over to Mich and waved goodbye to the other members. They got as far as the train before Kira spoke up._

_“Oh man. I don’t feel so good. You guys should go on without me.”_

_Sting caught on to what she was doing and quickly told her that the request could wait until she felt better. Emi looked at Kira and asked if she knew what was wrong, but the only thing Kira could come up with was that she had eaten something bad. She insisted that the three of them complete the mission without her._

_“I mean, it’s easy enough. You could totally do it with just you.”_

_Emi sighed and agreed before asking what the request was, as Kira had not told them and said that she would brief them on the train._

_“It’s some type of party thing. You have to attend a ball or whatever and act as guests. You’ll be trying to track down some dude that steals things from royals.”_

_Sting looked at Kira in confusion before it clicked._

_“Emi, we don’t have to--”_

_“Sting, what is a ball? Isn’t that a toy that you throw?”_

“You were very clueless back then,” Erza observed. 

“True,” Mira agreed. “I didn’t realize you were that isolated until now.”

Emi grumbled something no one could make out before turning back to the memory.

_Kira decided to step in, saying, “A ball is like a fancy dance party. Usually high ranking people like kings hold. You dance and eat these fancy foods. In order to successfully blend in, you’ll have to dance.”_

_“I don’t know how to dance.”_

_“Sting can teach you once you get there. You’ll be dancing with him for most of the night anyway, so you can learn as you go.”_

_Emi let out a quick “okay” and turned to the train. She heard Sting say something to Kira, but she couldn’t make it out._

“Being limited to only your perspective can be a bit frustrating at times.”

Levy turned to Lucy and nodded before explaining that’s all they could do. Natsu tried to come up with an idea.

“Why don’t we just do the same circle spell on Sting when we get back?”

Sting turned to Natsu and told him that they would absolutely not be doing that.

_Sting eventually boarded the train and sat across from Emi. The train started to close its doors when she realized something._

_“Sting,” she started, causing the dragon slayer to look at her, “where is Lector?”_

_Sting grumbled, “He said he didn’t want to come. He hates dressing up.”_

_The train started moving, causing Sting’s stomach to turn. He tried to distract himself by looking out the window, but Emi saw that it seemed to be worsening his condition. Emi tapped him on the shoulder before motioning him to lay down. Sting hesitantly did so and eventually fell asleep._

\---------------------------------------------------------------

_“I don’t understand why we have to dress like this.”_

_“Kira said that it’s vital to the job’s success.”_

_Sting gave Emi a quick glance as they stood in the corner of the ballroom._

_“Do we even know what this guy is supposed to look like?”_

_Sting sighed, “Not a clue.”_

_“Well, we might as well enjoy ourselves.”_

_Sting gave her a questioning look before she held out her hand._

_“Can you teach me how to dance? It looks fun.”_

_Sting laughed a little before pulling her to the dance floor. He grabbed her left arm and held it up before interlocking their hands. He guided her right hand to rest on his shoulder and gently placed his right hand on her waist. They both blushed at the position they were in. Sting had given her instructions on how to dance and she eventually got the hang of it. They chatted as they danced._

_“Do you see anyone suspicious?”_

_Sting looked around and shook his head. He looked back at her and was shocked by what he saw._

_“You’re...not wearing your hood.”_

_“Unfortunately, that’s impossible with the task that we’ve been given. Believe me, I would much rather be wearing it. They might see me during this.”_

_“Uh, who’s they?”_

_Emi shook her head before looking around again._

_“I wonder if Kira is alright. She seemed to feel horrible before we left.”_

_Sting rolled his eyes before saying, “Don’t worry. I think she’ll be just fine.”_

_Emi shifted her attention after something caught her eye. She squeezed Sting’s hand before whispering that she had found him. Sting followed her gaze and saw a man dressed in blue heading up to the royal’s balcony. They looked at each other before nodding and splitting up. Emi was the first one to catch him, standing in front of him with her arms crossed._

_“Where do you think you’re going?”_

_“Oh? The royal sent a small little lady to catch me? You’ll be no match for Ruto!”_

_Emi swiftly kicked the man in the shins, causing him to fall in pain. Sting caught up to them and grabbed the guy and pushed his arms behind his back._

_“You really picked a fight with the only person in here that could destroy the entire castle singlehandedly. Emi, did you wanna take him to the soldiers or should I?”_

_The guy stopped in his tracks and looked at the girl with wide eyes, “Emi? A girl with white hair? As in Emiko, the daughter of Cain? The girl who--”_

_Emi cut him off by kicking him in the groin. She looked down at him with a cold look in her eyes as she dragged him out of the castle and into a carriage guarded with soldiers. She walked back over to Sting and told him that they would leave as soon as they got the reward._

_“Emi, what’s the matt--”_

_“To think that they would hire a lousy thief to get my whereabouts.”_

_“Who are you--”_

_“Let’s go.”_

_Emi walked out of the castle while buttoning her cloak. She turned around and addressed Sting again._

_“Actually, I want to make sure the prisoner gets to the Magic Council. Will you check us into an inn while I go check on him?”_

_“Uh, yeah sure.”_

_Emi smiled and disappeared into the night. When she had caught up to the carriage, she blasted one of the wheels off with her Dagger Strike spell. Once the soldiers came out of the carriage to see what had happened, Emi cast her Earthworm spell to knock the carriage on its side. The carriage started to roll near the cliff that it was riding beside. She smirked before using her Levitate spell to lift the carriage and drop it over the edge, causing the carriage to fly off the cliff and break at the bottom. She jumped down off the cliff and made sure the thief was dead. She smiled to herself once she saw Ruto bleeding from his head, clearly dead._

_“I’m sorry, but I can’t let you put my friends in danger.”_

\-----------------------------------------------------

_Emi had arrived at the inn where Sting had checked them in. He was waiting outside looking around nervously before she suddenly appeared in front of him._

_“Holy shit! Don’t do that.”_

_Emi giggled and gave a quick apology before following him into the inn._

_“Listen, uh, there’s a little problem with the room.”_

_Emi looked at him curiously, asking him to continue._

_“Well, you see, there weren’t anymore rooms left except for this one and it--”_

_They had arrived at the room and Emi looked around._

_“Only has one bed?” Emi tried to finish his sentence._

“YES!”

“Mira, please,” Cana groaned.

“Are you kidding me?” Mira countered. “This is perfect.”

She turned to Emi and Sting before giving them a thumbs up. 

_“Uh, yeah. They said it was the only room left.”_

_Emi shrugged her shoulders before taking off her cloak and laying it on a chair that sat in the corner._

_“Will you turn around? I want to change.”_

_Sting’s face flushed before stiffly nodding and turning around. Emi made her way to the bed and layed down, pulling the blankets up to cover her. She told him that she wasn’t looking so he could change as well._

_“Uh, I could sleep on the floor if you want.”_

_“I don’t want you to sleep on the floor. The bed is fine. It’s plenty big.”_

_Sting gulped before slowly walking over to the bed and laying over the covers._

_“Aren’t you cold without any blankets?”_

_Sting shivered lightly before shaking it off so Emi wouldn’t see._

_“I can feel you shaking. Just use the blankets.”_

_Sting looked over at her to see that she was facing away from him and decided to get under the blankets. They both faced away from each other as they fell asleep. In the middle of the night, Sting could feel Emi shaking and hear her start to sniffle. He turned his head over his shoulder to see her curled up with her knees almost touching her head as she cried. He went to ask her if everything was okay, but she started to scream. Sting’s eyes widened as he sat up and started shaking her._

_“Come on. Wake up!”_

_Sting looked at her before getting out of bed and walking over to the other side and crouching down so that he was at eye level with her. Her eyes snapped open and she went to punch whoever was near her. Sting quickly blocked the punch by grabbing the fist with one of his hands. She seemed to come to after that, looking at Sting with regret and tears._

_“I’m so sorry.”_

_“Don’t worry about it.”_

_Emi continued to sniffle as the dragon slayer asked if she was okay. She looked at him in the eyes as she cried before nodding._

_“I just...don’t want anyone to get hurt again.”_

_Sting’s eyes softened as he gently took her hand in his and told her that she was safe with Phoenix Wing. He started to rub circles on her hand with his thumb and it seemed to calm her down. Her breathing started to slow. Sting quietly got back into bed and faced away from her again. Just as he was drifting off to sleep, he felt something on his back. He jolted at the sudden touch and looked behind him to see that Emi was leaning her head against his back. He stiffened before he heard her start sniffling again. He gently turned to face her and tried to wipe her tears away. When they wouldn’t stop he grabbed her gently by the shoulders and pulled her closer. He felt her head leaning against his chest and her tears roll down his shirt. He put his arm around her shoulder and sighed before falling asleep._

“You two are too cute. The _gentleness_. The _vulnerability_. It’s perfect!”

Sting and Emi looked at Mira before Emi started to giggle.


	61. Your Turn

_“So,” Kira asked as she met Sting and Emi on the platform, “how did it go? You didn’t come back last night. We were starting to get worried.”_

_“We decided to stay at an inn and wait for the morning to return."_

_“Oh?” Kira smirked. “Interesting.”_

_Emi smiled, oblivious to the hidden meaning behind Kira’s response. She told them that she would meet them back at the guildhall in an hour and disappeared into the typical crowds of Crocus. The white haired woman quietly slipped to the edge of town to see a figure sitting on the roof of an abandoned building._

_“I’m surprised I caught you before you left.”_

_“You’re in luck then,” Mystogan laughed. “I’m staying in town for another day before I go back to Fairy Tail for another job.”_

_Emi sat down next to him on the roof and dangled her legs._

_“I heard you took a job at the royal’s ball. Very gutsy of you.”_

_“I was spotted by someone who worked for the Sins.”_

_“Do you have to run again?”_

_“I took care of him,” Emi coldly replied. “I’ll do whatever it takes to protect my friends.”_

\------------------------------------------------------

_Emi was laying under a tree in the park when Sting found her. He tugged at her cloak, causing her eyes to snap open. Sting laughed before apologizing._

_“You look sick,” Emi pointed out._

_“Um, actually,” Sting tried to respond, “I have something to ask you.”_

_“Hm?” Emi pushed as she sat up._

_She patted the spot next to her and motioned for him to join her under the tree._

_“I was wondering if--”_

_“Sting, Emi! There you guys are. We’re leaving soon.”_

_Sting sighed before grabbing Emi’s hand and pulling her up. Emi asked him what he was going to ask, but was met with Sting shaking his head and pulling her behind him._

_“It can wait until later.”_

\------------------------------------------------

_“Lady Emiko! I want to hang out with you today.”_

_Emi looked over her shoulder and saw Sting running after Lector. The exceed had maneuvered through the crowds and floated in front of Emi. Sting had finally caught up to Lector before yelling at him to not run off. Lector turned to Sting before waving his paw accusingly._

_“You’re the one who said I should ask.”_

_“Ask what? To hang out? You know you don’t have to ask, Lector.”_

_“Actually,” Sting sheepishly continued, “I was going to ask if you would watch Lector for a few days while I go on a job.”_

_“We can hang out the whole night! And then we can have breakfast together! And then we can--”_

_“As you can see, he’s a little excited.”_

_Emi laughed and looked towards Lector, smiling. She held up a hand and the two of the high fived before Emi turned to the dragon slayer._

_“We’ll make sure to have tons of fun without you!”_

_Sting sighed before thanking her and waving goodbye to the pair. Lector and Emi rushed off to the hill to watch the clouds._

\----------------------------------------------------

_“How on earth did you get injured this time, you idiot?”_

_Sting grumbled, “It’s not my fault some guy set most of the town on fire.”_

Everyone looked towards Natsu who smiled sheepishly before giving a light chuckle. 

_“What’s going on?” Emi asked as she and Lector walked into the guildhall._

_“Uh, hey Emi. Do you think you could use that healing spell of yours?”_

_Emi quickly stepped over to everyone to see that Sting had burns all over his arm. She gently pushed Rin and Yuuki out of the way to get a closer look. She carefully started to poke the burns, causing Sting to hiss. She placed her hands over the burns._

_“Sanatio Aqua.”_

_Sting released a relieved breath as the burns started to disappear. He looked up to her and thanked her before Zack came over and slapped him on the back. Sting groaned before turning around and getting ready to fight._

_“Now now,” Master Rue spoke up, “let’s give everyone time to heal before we start fighting, yes?”_

_Everyone nodded before Sting sat back down and placed his head on the table._

_“Hey idiot, what gives?”_

_Sting groaned and said that he was exhausted. Lector suggested that they go back to their apartment to rest, and Sting agreed before they both exited the guildhall. Master Rue walked over to Emi before mentioning her to come into his office. She looked around the office and saw that there were huge stacks of paperwork crowding the desk and the floor. She laughed at her master’s neglect of duties._

_“Child,” the master started, “I heard that there was an incident at the ball.”_

_“I took care of it.”_

_“Do you need any help covering your tracks?”_

_“I think it’s alright now. I’ll make sure to ask if I end up needing help.”_

\--------------------------------------------------------------

_“Did you want to go to the hill today? I heard that there’s going to be a lot of clouds.”_

_Sting looked over at Emi and laughed at her enthusiasm. They strolled over to the hill and laid down on top. Emi searched for a cloud and pointed to the perfect one._

_“Duck holding a lawnmower.”_

_“No way. Lion playing guitar.”_

_Emi tsked and pointed to another one, saying, “Next you’re going to tell me that one looks like a cat chasing after a waterfall.”_

_“I mean,” Sting smirked, “it does kind of look like that.”_

_They both laughed before Sting sat up and turned to Emi._

_“Listen, I’ve been trying to ask you this for a long time now. I wanted to know if you--”_

_“Lady, Mister! Can you please help me? My kite flew into that tree and I can’t reach it.”_

_Emi smiled before telling Sting she’d be right back. Sting pulled his hair in frustration and laid back down._

“Do you ever get to ask her out or did you just go straight to becoming mates?” Gajeel snickered. 

“Shut up.”

_Emi returned back to Sting and laughed when she saw his annoyed face._

_“Oh come on,” Emi laughed. “You can’t really be mad at that kid for playing.”_

_“I have something to ask you and I keep getting interrupted.”_

_“Well I’m here now.”_

_Sting took in a breath and sat up while asking, “Will you please go--”_

_“Emi! We have to go shopping for groceries. We used all the food making that cake.”_

_“Can I please ask my stupid question, asshole?”_

_Kira turned to Sting and went to counter his attitude when she realized what was happening. She shrugged her shoulders before telling Emi to meet her at the apartment in ten minutes. She looked over her shoulder and smirked at Sting._

_“Sting, are you oka--”_

_“Please go on a date with me.”_

“Very smooth,” Rogue playfully commented.

_“Huh?”_

_“I’ve been trying to ask for so long and every single time I somehow get interrupted…”_

_“Sting.”_

_“...And don’t even get me started on Kira with her interruptions. I swear she can sense it…”_

_“Sting!”_

_“...And that asshole kid with his stupid kite--”_

_**“Sting!”** _

_Sting stopped rambling and looked at her to see she was laughing. She put her hand on his shoulder and smiled._

_“Before you explode in anger, I should tell you that I will.”_

_“Really?”_

_Emi laughed again before continuing, “Kira told me that you wanted to a while ago, so she gave me the basic rundown of what it was. We’ve been expecting you to ask, but I never would’ve thought it would be this difficult.”_

_Sting blushed, “You guys...knew?”_


	62. Date

_“So where are we going?”_

_Sting and Emi had begun their date the next day. The dragon slayer was dragging Emi through the crowded streets before leading her to the destination. Emi’s eyes widened when she saw the royal gardens._

_“Uh, there’s only one thing. They said that we could have the gardens to ourselves, but you would need to take off your hood. If you don’t feel comfortable we can--”_

_Emi whipped off her hood and ran into the gardens._

_“Damn. Who knew it would be that easy.”_

_“As long as we’re the only ones here it should be fine.”_

_She had been jumping from one flower patch to the next, smelling each one. Sting had made his way over to the fountain in the center and sat on it’s ledge as he watched her with a smile._

_“Sting! Look at these!”_

_Sting looked up and followed Emi’s gaze. He raised his eyebrow to ask her to elaborate._

_“They’re called catmint. Aren’t they beautiful?”_

_Sting stood up and stretched before wandered over to the woman, clearly interested in whatever drew her attention so much._

_“Let me see.”_

Emi blushed as she recognized the memory.

“The gardens sure are beautiful,” Levy stated. 

_Emi sidestepped while squatting and motioned for the dragon slayer to bend down and join her. He quickly did so and started to touch the catmint. He smiled and picked up a flower from the patch._

_“I think it would match your hair,” Sting commented._

_“But my hair is white.”_

_“Well then let’s find out, shall we?”_

_Sting sat down on the grass in front of the patch and pulled Emi out of her squatting position. He slowly brushed her hair behind her ear before gently placing the catmint in her hair. Emi blushed at the action before looking at Sting’s eyes. They slowly leaned in towards each other. Their lips almost touched before they pulled away. Sting rubbed the back of his neck before nervously laughing._

_“Heh, sorry about that. Anyway, what were you saying?”_

_Emi had a deep red tint to her whole face as she struggled with words._

_“I was, um, just saying that my hair is white.”_

_Emi and Sting looked away from each other for a moment before Emi picked up a small catmint and placed it in Sting’s hair._

_“There,” she beamed, “now we match.”_

“Boo!” Mira yelled. “You were so close!”

Everyone laughed at Mira’s energy. 

\-------------------------------------------------------------

_“Does it always look like this?”_

_“Not necessarily. It can change depending on what sells.”_

_“Who knew there was a store with everything white.”_

“There’s actually a store like that in Crocus?”

“Not anymore,” Sting explained. “They went out of business a few years ago.”

_“So,” Emi joked, “how often do you come here?”_

_Sting blushed a bit before telling her that it was only sometimes. He quickly bought two white apples and handed the white haired wizard one before biting into the other._

_“White...apples? I never knew they existed.”_

_“They taste just like regular apples. They’re just white.”_

_Emi laughed as she ate the apple._

_“Now that I’m all full,” Sting started, “we can fight!”_

_“Huh?”_

“What? You asked her on a date to _fight_?!” 

“Mira, calm down.”

“Wow,” Lucy commented as she looked at Sting, “you and Natsu are a lot alike.”

_“I want a rematch for last time. And I want you to actually fight without limitations.”_

_Emi smirked before crossing her arms and asking, “No limitations at all? So I can kill you if I want to? Or trap you underground forever? Or maybe--”_

_Sting started to sweat as he elaborated, “Okay maybe with some limitations. You can’t kill me and we both can’t seriously harm each other.”_

_“So it’s another fight for fun?”_

_“Yes, but this time don’t just use one kind of spell.”_

_Emi nodded before leading him to an open part of the park. They both stood a few feet apart from each other before Emi rushed to him and cast her Wind Blade spell, causing a giant sword to form as she swung at him. Sting jumped out of the way, but the blade grazed his shoulder, causing him to slam into a tree. He quickly picked himself up before using his Holy Ray. Emi smirked._

_“Shadow Rocket.”_

_Shadow beams started to surround the light of the Holy Ray and completely engulfed it before causing it to disappear into smoke._

“Can you teach me that spell?” Rogue asked as he watched the spell in wonder.

Emi laughed before telling the shadow dragon slayer that she would.

_“What the hell? You could counter it that easily but you let it hit you twice before?”_

_“I was limiting myself to water spells, remember? I don’t know any water-based spells that would be able to effectively counter your Holy Ray.”_

_Sting looked on in awe as she cast her next spell._

_“Shadow Form.”_

_Emi’s body turned into a shadow as she slipped through the ground. She appeared in front of Sting and held out her finger. Sting braced himself for her next spell, knowing that he was too close to her to dodge it. She smirked before flicking his forehead and sending him back and breaking several trees._

Everyone looked on in shock.

“You can do that by just using one finger? You have to fight me!” Natsu shouted. 

Sting spoke up, saying that she can do more damage than that and that she was holding back so she wouldn’t kill him.

“Holy shit.”

_Emi made her way through the park to find Sting slumped against a tree. She crouched down next to him and held out her hand._

_“I think I won this time.”_

_“You won last time, too. You just won’t admit it.”_

_Emi giggled before pulling him up. She put her hands on his shoulder before casting her healing spell and fixing any wounds that she caused._

_“Kira never mentioned that this would be part of a date. It’s quite fun.”_

_“Well,” Sting admitted as he rubbed the back of his head, “it’s really not, but I just wanted to fight you again.”_

_Emi and Sting both laughed before they walked back to town._

\------------------------------------------------------ 

_“So, how’d it go?”_

_Emi and Kira were making dinner in their apartment. Emi shrugged before looking over her shoulder._

_“I enjoyed it a lot. We went to the gardens and then fought in the park.”_

_“Wow that sounds like...did you just say you **fought**?”_

_“Yes. We fought in the park.”_

_“I’m going to kill that blond idiot. He finally gets to take you out on a date and he has you fight. What an idiot.”_

_“Kira, what’s wrong with that? I had fun.”_

_“That’s not what a date is supposed to be at all! And you had such a promising start with the gardens.”_

_Emi laughed before she sprayed Kira with some water. Kira laughed before asking her if she would go on another date with him. Emi shrugged her shoulders before saying that she would._

_“Maybe next time we won’t fight. I’m curious to see what else would be a part of a date.”_


	63. Cloaked Demon

_“And then he passed out from the lack of oxygen!”_

_Emi giggled, “Well yeah. That’s what happens when you trap him in a water bubble.”_

_“What about you? I heard you went on a solo mission.”_

_“It was a pretty boring mission.”_

_“Didn’t you take on a dark guild request? You’re saying that’s boring?”_

_“There were only fifteen in the guildhall at the time, so it was relatively easy.”_

“Fifteen?!” Natsu and Lucy shouted. 

“My my,” Erza commented, “it seems you have additional reserves of strength.”

Laxus turned to Makarov and gave him a sly look.

“Great,” Makarov groaned, “now I have two of you.”

_Emi laughed at her friend’s reaction before telling her that it was a lower-level dark guild and that they didn’t have many powerful members._

_“Yo.”_

_Emi and Kira rolled their eyes as they watched the dragon slayer crawl through the window and stretch._

_“What’re we talking about?”_

_“We,” Kira stated as she pointed between her and Emi, “are talking about her latest job.”_

_“Oh cool. How’d it go?”_

_Kira stepped right in front of him before responding, “That’s none of your business! Roommates only. Now shoo.”_

_“Actually, he came to pick me up.”_

_Kira looked between the two before smirking and gently punching Sting’s chest._

_“About time you grew some balls.”_

_Sting blushed before snapping his head away. Emi giggled at the two before opening the front door and motioning for Sting to follow her out the door._

\----------------------------------------------------

_“That was fun.”_

_“I don’t really consider beating a dark guild so much as a date, but I’m glad you had fun at least.”_

_Emi laughed before standing in front of Sting and smiling._

_“Don’t tell me you didn’t like showing off what the ‘Holy Dragon’ can do. You seemed to enjoy yourself just as much as me.”_

“You were called the ‘Holy Dragon’ back then? Really?” Rogue asked. 

“It’s not like I was the one who came up with it,” Sting muttered. 

_“No way. Nobody looked happier than when you shocked them with that lightning spell. You know, I’m starting to think your idea of a date is fighting something.”_

_“Well it’s the third date and I’ve fought someone each time.”_

\-------------------------------------------------

_“Yo, red eyed freak, come with us and we’ll show you a good time.”_

_“How are you going to call me a freak and then hit on me?” Kira said as she crossed her arms._

_The guys laughed and made a rude remark, which caused Kira to smirk._

_“Hey Emi, you wanna take care of them? I’m a little tired.”_

_Emi looked over at Kira and nodded._

_“Hey guys,” one of the men said nervously, “there’s another person there.”_

_Emi stepped out of the shadows and cracked her knuckles._

_“Oh shit! It’s the Cloaked Demon!”_

_“Did they just call me a demon?”_

“That’s a scary name,” Happy cried. 

“Nobody is scarier than Lady Emiko!” Lector exclaimed. 

_Kira rolled her eyes and told Emi that it was her new nickname, saying that Emi was known to not hold back. Emi turned to Kira and revealed that she thought she always held back. She turned back to the guys and crossed her arms._

_“Do you think I don’t hold back?”_

_The men began to sweat, causing Emi to smirk. She kicked the guys in the stomach and started to walk away._

_“You know, you could’ve held back just a little bit.”_

_Emi shrugged her shoulders._

_“I thought I was.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the extremely short chapter! It's more of a filler than anything. I'll be posting another one later today. I hope you're enjoying!


	64. The Holy Dragon

_“Let’s go. It’s going to get dark soon.”_

_“Emi, where are we going?_

_Emi continued to drag Sting outside. She had shown up to the dragon slayer’s apartment unannounced and told Sting and Lector that they needed to come with her._

_“Lady Emiko, it’s cold outside.”_

_Emi turned around and gave Lector a small sweater that he could wear. The exceed looked at the sweater before shrugging and putting it on. Sting continued to follow her as she gripped and pulled at his arm._

_“Here we are!”_

_The two looked around and saw that it was an empty park._

_“What’re we—”_

_“You said we could go on a date when I had free time, and I’m free!”_

_Sting blushed bright red and looked out at the blanket of snow on the ground. He looked to Lector before he gave Emi a confused stare._

“How many dates have you been on with each other at this point?” Lucy asked.

“Yeah,” Mira agreed, “it looks like we skipped ahead a little.”

Cana slurred as she looked at Sting, “I think it’s cute how you guys were already dating and you still get nervous.”

_Lector asked the question on Sting’s mind, “Lady Emiko, why am I here if it’s a date?”_

_Emi looked surprised at the question before blushing._

_“Oh,” Emi started as she laughed, “I guess I didn’t think of that.”_

_Emi turned back around to look at the empty park and smile at the snow. She ran to the middle of the park’s field and jumped in the snow piles that had formed from everyone shoveling and playing. Sting chuckled as he watched her excitement grow._

_“Hey Lector, don’t you think she’s hav—”_

_Sting didn’t get to finish his sentence as a snowball came darting at his stomach, making him bend over in pain. Emi stood proudly in the field as she held another snowball. Emi went to throw the next snowball, but it was caught by Sting’s left hand._

_“What do you think you’re doing?”_

_Emi giggled before pressing another pile of snow into a ball and hurling it at him. Sting laughed before making his own snowball and gently throwing it at her._

_“Oh come on! You can throw harder than that.”_

_“I don’t want to accidentally hurt you—”_

_Sting was hit by another snowball. He looked at Emi and she was also on the ground with snow scattered on her stomach. They both looked at each other confused before they heard Lector laughing. Sting gave the exceed a dirty look, causing Lector to let out another loud laugh. Emi picked herself off the ground and made more snowballs before throwing them at both Lector and Sting._

_“Hey!” Sting protested. “It wasn’t me who threw it.”_

_Emi’s mouth curved into a smile as she ran over to the pair. She stopped right in front of Sting and grabbed his hands._

_“This is so much fun. I haven’t played in the snow since I was really little.”_

_“Wait, really? Why not?”_

_Sadness clouded her features before explaining that she trained with Cain for over ten years and they never had time to enjoy the snow. Sting looked around and discretely picked up some snow and dropped it down Emi’s cloak. Emi screamed in surprise as she jumped from the cold. Lector and Sting snickered as she tried to remove the snow that was slinking down her back. Emi’s mouth twitched slightly before bringing her hands down to the snow._

_“Blizzard!”_

_Sting’s face fell and he paled as the snow came rushing at him._

_“Okay, okay! I give in! You win.”_

_The blizzard disappeared as quickly as it formed, leaving a beaming Emi. She scanned the area before asking where Lector went. They both started frantically looking for the missing exceed when Emi spotted a maroon tail sticking up from a pile of snow. Emi gasped before rushing over to the exceed and helping him out of the snowpile._

_“Are you okay?”_

_Lector waved his paw as he assured. “Of course I am! A little snow can’t hurt me.”_

\---------------------------------------------------------

_“Hot chocolate! Hot chocolate!”_

_Emi was skipping through the streets with Lector and Sting jogging behind her. She turned into the bakeshop and triggered the bell. She quickly took a seat at her usual corner table and waited for the two to catch up. They walked in out of breath and met her at the back table._

_“You really...gotta not run off,” Sting breathed._

_The three of them ordered hot chocolate and apple pie. Emi happily ate her pie when she looked over to see Lector staring at her hot chocolate._

_“What’s wrong?”_

_Lector looked away once he saw that he was caught staring. Emi gently asked him again. He refused to make eye contact as he answered her._

_“I want some marshmallows, too.”_

_Sting scolded, “Lector, I asked you if you wanted some and you said no.”_

_Lector looked at him indignantly before looking out the window. Emi poked Lector from under the table and winked at him before telling Sting that she thought she saw someone behind him. Once Sting was looking away, Emi quickly switched Lector’s cup for hers. Lector’s eyes widened with excitement as Emi winked at him one more time before engaging in conversation with Sting. Lector happily sipped his hot chocolate as they talked._

_“Lector and I are heading out on a job tomorrow if you wanna come.”_

_“What’s the job?”_

_“A town has a power outage and needs someone to provide lights to the places where it’s really dark.”_

_“That hot chocolate was the best!”_

_Emi and Sting’s attention was shifted to the exceed. Emi giggled before picking up a napkin._

_“Lector, you have hot chocolate on your whiskers.”_

_“Looks like you enjoyed it.”_

_Lector’s eyes filled with embarrassment before he turned to Emi for her to clean his face._

“Adorable,” Lucy commented. 

Lector went to defend himself but Levy pointed that the memory was changing.

\-----------------------------------------------

_“Sting, it’s not that bad.”_

_“Says the person who enjoys train rides.”_

_“We haven’t even gotten on the train yet.”_

_Sting grumbled and took a seat on the train. Lector and Emi sat together as she pointed out all the trees. The train started, causing Sting’s stomach to turn. He leaned himself against the window before slumping over. Lector fell asleep halfway through, leaving Emi with Sting, who was struggling to get up from the floor._

_“Sting?”_

_The dragon slayer seemed to not hear her, so Emi leaned over from her seat and held his hand before pulling him up onto the seat next to her._

_“I wonder why dragon slayers get motion sickness. Sting, do you know? Maybe it’s because of the lack of--”_

_Emi looked over to see that Sting had found his way back to the floor. She sighed before pulling him up again and laying him down across the seat. His head was in her lap, causing the sickness to subside after a minute. Emi studied his feature before shrugging._

_“I still have no idea why that works.”_

_The white haired wizard looked from Sting to the sleeping Lector and sighed as she looked out the window._

_“I guess it’s just me for the rest of the ride.”_

\-----------------------------------------------------

_“Wow, this town is beautiful.”_

_Sting and Lector trailed behind Emi as she took in the stone structures that littered the town. The three of them wandered to the main hall in the town to get a briefing on the request._

_“We heard that the Holy Dragon was a part of your guild, so we sent the request to you specifically. We heard that the Holy Dragon can produce light brighter than no other.”_

_Sting and Emi nodded before turning to the dark town._

_“I’m glad you didn’t arrive in the daytime. I would’ve hated to make you wait around until dark.”_

_“We wouldn’t have minded. This town is very beautiful. We could’ve found something to do.”_

_The man walked them to the darkest part of the town and told them that this would be where they needed to provide light. They both nodded and stood in the streets. Emi went to cast a spell at the same time as Sting._

_“So, uh...which one of you is the Holy Dragon?”_

_“Just watch, mister,” Lector advised._

_“Holy Nova!”_

_“Ad Deum!”_

_At their command, two blinding lights engulfed the area. The man looked on with awe as he watched the two wizards bring light to the entire town. Emi and Sting walked over to the man and smiled at him._

_“There are two? Twin Holy Dragons?”_

“Twin Dragons?” Gajeel questioned as he faced Sting and Rogue. “Aren’t you guys the Twin Dragons?”

Rogue nodded before explaining that the nickname came from the town present in Emi’s memory.

_“I’m the Holy Dragon,” Sting declared._

_“He’s right. I’m just a copycat.”_

_“To think that two wizards this powerful would be present in such a small guild is amazing.”_

_Sting gave the man a lopsided grin and wrapped his arm around Emi’s shoulders._

_“She’s pretty awesome though, don’t ya think?”_

_“...She?”_

\------------------------------------------

_The three were walking when Emi started rambling._

_“Why does everyone think I’m a dude? I get that they can’t see my face, but don’t you think my voice would be enough? Do I not sound like a girl? Do I have a man’s voice? Why--”_

_“Relax, Emi. People just assume that you’re a dude because people associate guys with cloaks.”_

_“That’s stupid.”_

_They had all arrived at the inn and checked into their room. Emi walked over to her bed and flopped under the covers. Sting laughed before gently pulling back the covers of his bed._

_“Lector, where are ya going?”_

_“I want to sleep with Lady Emiko tonight.”_

_Emi giggled as Sting pushed Lector for a further explanation._

_“You kicked me in your sleep last night, so I’m sleeping with Lady Emiko. She won’t kick me.”_

_“It was an accident! I said I was sorry.”_

_“It’s okay, Sting. I don’t mind.”_

_Lector grinned and flew into Emi’s bed and crawled under the covers. Sting rolled his eyes and turned away from them._

_“Uh oh, Lector. He’s pouting.”_

_“I am not!”_


	65. Magnolia

“This is Magnolia,” Levy observed.

_“Come on, Sting. We have to go meet the person who put out the request.”_

_Sting was struggling to walk from the train, still sick from the ride. Emi rolled her eyes and grabbed Sting’s hand._

_“I don’t even understand why we got the request when Fairy Tail is in this town. They’re like, the most powerful guild. Why need us?”_

_“Sting, they asked for our help so we’ll give them help. Besides,” Emi giggled, “they probably didn’t want the whole town destroyed.”_

Makarov sighed before agreeing that Magnolia was always afraid they would wreck the city.

“I guess we’re very well known for our destruction,” Erza mused.

_“You were awful quick to pick this job.”_

_“I wanted to see the tree in the middle of the park. I also needed to meet someone here.”_

_“Here? Who is it?”_

_“None of your business, nosy.”_

\------------------------------------------

_“You’re in Magnolia?”_

_Emi laughed as she approached Mystogan on the roof._

_“I just wanted to see an old friend. Did you find any more Anima?”_

_“A couple dozen here and there. What about you?”_

_“I’ve been taking jobs and hanging out with my guildmates.”_

_“You seem happy.”_

_“Yeah, I guess I am.”_

\--------------------------------------------

_Maybe you’ll meet Natsu,” Emi joked._

_“Doubt it.”_

_“Don’t you want to meet your idol? We’re in Magnolia. You could stop by and see if he’s there.”_

_“I’m not facing him until I’m strong enough.”_

Natsu looked at Sting and gave a smug grin to remind him that he had still beaten Sting. Sting rolled his eyes and slung his arm over Emi’s shoulder. 

_Once they arrived at the center of town, the request was further explained to them._

_“Lost cat? Really?” Sting turned to Emi unimpressed._

_“I figured we could take an easy job this time! Plus you would want help finding Lector if he ever was lost.”_

_Sting grumbled before splitting up into town. Emi started looking towards the parks while Sting took the outside of town. The white haired wizard ended up outside of Fairy Tail’s guildhall. She smiled as she heard all the noise and happiness radiating off the building. She could hear that there was a big fight. Emi giggled as she imagined all the damage that they were doing._

_“What are you doing standing outside our guildhall?”_

_Emi looked up to see a tall man with a lightning scar on his eye. She had quickly recognized him from her trip to Magnolia with Cain._

“Hey Laxus, look! It’s you again!” Natsu exclaimed.

Laxus grunted before replying, “I can see that. I have eyes.”

_Laxus raised his eyebrow at the short girl._

_“Sorry,” Emi laughed, “I’m actually looking for a lost cat.”_

_“Well get out of here. This is for wizards, not little girls.”_

_“I’m actually just as old as you, Laxus.”_

_He studied her form for a minute, saying, “You certainly don’t look like it. You just look like some shady girl slinking through town.”_

_Emi smiled, realizing that he didn’t recognize her. She smiled under her hood and gently tapped his arm before saying goodbye._

_“Thanks for realizing I’m a girl.”_

_“Huh?”_

\-------------------------------------------------------

_“Did you find the cat yet?”_

_Emi turned to reveal the cat that she was holding in her arms. She smiled before holding the cat up to show him._

_“Now we can finally get out of here.”_

_Emi rolled her eyes before following him to the train station._

_“Someone’s grumpy,” she snickered._


	66. Wind Spell

_Emi and Sting were in the dragon slayer’s apartment. Emi day on the couch and Sting was cooking something in the kitchen._

_“Where’s Lector?”_

_“Oh,” Sting explained, “he went out to buy a new vest. Apparently his old one got a big stain that won’t come out.”_

_Emi nodded before turning back to her book._

_“What are you reading now?”_

_Emi’s eyes filled with stars as she explained, “It’s a book on lightning magic. I’m trying to learn a new spell and I was hoping to find it in this book.”_

_“Why are ya so interested in lightning spells all of a sudden? Weren’t you trying to learn a new wind spell?”_

_Emi giggled before explaining that she had already learned the spell and was now interested in learning lightning magic again._

_“You have a bunch of lightning spells already though.”_

_“I wanted to learn this one,” Emi said as she pointed to a page in the book._

_Sting walked over to her and looked at the book over her shoulder._

_“Teleport? You can do that with lightning?”_

_Emi nodded enthusiastically before turning back to her book._

_“I’ve wanted to try this one for a while. I think it would be very useful to be able to do that, and it’s super cool!”_

Levy pointed out that Laxus had mastered that spell as well. Rogue looked at Emi for a second before speaking. 

“Weren’t you able to teleport using that Shadow Form spell?”

Emi nodded before explaining that the shadow spell can only travel short distances. 

_“I wanna see that wind spell you learned,” Sting said as he stood with his hand on his hip._

_Emi smiled before bringing him to the field. She closed her eyes before looking at Sting._

_“Can I use it on you?”_

_Sting’s face paled as he thought of all the other spells that she had learned._

_“Uh...just don’t kill me.”_

_“Don’t worry. I’ll make sure to heal you after.”_

_“That’s…not making me feel any better about this.”_

_Emi closed her eyes again as the wind started to pick up._

_“Wind Tomb!”_

_A large tornado like thing erupted from underneath Sting, forming a wall of air. He looked around him to see that he was surrounded in what looked to be the eye of the tornado-like thing. He started choking for breath just as Emi cancelled the spell._

_“Wasn’t that so cool!”_

_Sting continued to cough before looking at her and smiling weakly._

_“I take it that that’s another fatal spell?”_

_Emi looked confused before shaking her head. She explained that it was just a powerful defense spell and that it only took enough air to make the person pass out._

_“Damn. You’re scary.”_

_Emi giggled as she gave a thumbs up to the blond wizard._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the short chapters lately. Things have been pretty busy. I hope you enjoy!


	67. Scolding

_“Rushing Waters!”_

_“Iron Wall!”_

_Sting sighed as he sat down under his usual tree in the park. Kira and Emi were sparring again and he was told he needed to watch. Lector sat beside him as he looked at the fight in awe._

_“Lady Emiko is the strongest girl wizard ever!”_

_Sting chuckled as they continued to watch._

_“Sea Serpents!”_

_Emi barely dodged the rushing water serpents and cast her next spell by pointing at the blazing sun._

_“Solar Spike!”_

_Rays of sunlight shot down from the sun and rushed towards Kira. Kira’s eyes widened as she tried to dodge the piercing rays._

_“Hey Emi, make sure you don’t kill her,” Sting chimed in._

_“Nobody needs your commentary, dragon boy.”_

_Sting shrugged his shoulders at Kira before pointing to Emi as she was rushing at the purple haired wizard._

_“Better not get too distracted.”_

_Emi reached Kira just in time to cast her Frostbite spell to trap Kira’s feet to the ground. Kira struggled to move before bringing her hot water down to her feet to melt it off. She smirked before casting her Water Vapor spell. Boiling water rushed at Emi too fast for her to completely dodge it. Her arms were partially burned and she hissed in pain. Since Emi was distracted by the new pain, Kira smirked and cast her newest spell._

_“Deluge!”_

_Rushing waters came pouring out from the rivers and ponds surrounding the park before crashing down on Emi. Kira beamed._

_“I totally won! Did you see that? I finally won!”_

_Sting and Lector both looked unimpressed as they pointed to Emi standing where she was hit like nothing happened._

_“What--”_

_“Is it my turn now?” Emi asked with a devilish smirk._

_Kira’s face paled as she watched Emi cast a spell._

_“Thunder Missiles!”_

_Kira was pinned to the ground by small electric spikes. Every time she moved, she would get a small shock. Emi released the spell as Kira held her hands up in defeat. Emi smiled before helping her friend up from the ground._

_“I thought I had you. How did you not lose once you got hit by that?”_

_Emi laughed before explaining that she had cast a fire type spell, Fire Defense, to counter the spell and turn it to vapor. Kira let out a frustrated breath before walking over to Lector and Sting and flopping down on the ground. Emi joined them soon after._

_“Kira, it’s very impressive that you were able to master the Deluge spell I showed you. It’s a very powerful and fairly difficult spell to learn.”_

_“Believe me, I’ve been practicing as much as I can to learn it in hopes of beating you with it, but that obviously didn’t work.”_

_They all stayed silent for a moment before everyone looked at Sting, causing him to ask what was wrong._

_“How about Sting buys us ice cream?” Kira suggested._

_“Hey! I never agre--”_

_Lector interrupted, “That’s a great idea! Ice cream!”_

_“Emi, you can’t thi--”_

_“I could go for some ice cream.”_

_Sting looked at them exasperated before groaning and leading them to the ice cream stand by the palace._

_“You guys are so mean to me.”_

_Kira stuck out her tongue at the dragon slayer before linking her arms with Emi._

\-----------------------------------------------------

_“So when are you guys going on your next date? It’s been a while.”_

_“What are you talking about, Kira?” Lector questioned. “They went out last week.”_

_Sting and Emi blushed as Kira continued, “Yeah but a week is a long time when I’m trying to meddle.”_

_Sting rolled his eyes before tapping Emi on the shoulder._

_“What do ya say? Up for taking down another dark guild?”_

_“No!” Kira yelled. “You won’t have anymore dates that have fighting! You’re supposed to be getting to know each other and start liking each other, not destroying dark guilds or fighting each other.”_

_Confusion clouded Emi’s face as she looked up at Sting, asking, “You don’t like me enough?”_

_Sting’s eyes darted from Kira to Emi as he stumbled over his words. Kira smiled smugly before tapping him on the shoulder and walking in front of him, bringing Lector along._

_“I’ll meet you guys at the ice cream stand. Seems like you have some stuff to talk about.”_

_“You can’t just do that and lea--”_

_“Why don’t you like me enough for Kira to approve?”_

_“That’s not what she meant, Emi. She’s just trying to cause trouble.”_

_“Oh,” Emi smiled, “so you like me a lot then?”_

_Sting blushed before looking away and rubbing the back of his head._

_“Let’s catch up to them so we can get the ice cream.”_

“You mean you didn’t even _agree_ with her? You didn’t tell her? You just _ignored_ her when she asked you?” Mira scolded. “It was the perfect time to tell her and you ignored the opportunity!”

“Mira,” Cana started, “they obviously tell each other at some point, so stop getting so worked up.”


	68. Flower Garden Days

_“What the hell are you doing here?” Kira barked._

_Sting grinned as he opened the window and jumped inside. He stretched once he got inside and looked around._

_“Where’s Emi?”_

_“She’s sleeping. Go away.”_

_“I came to pick her up. She said she wanted to go to the gardens and they’re open today, so I figured I’d take her there.”_

_“Oh!” Kira happily exclaimed, opening Emi’s door and yelling inside. “Get up, Emi! Your date is here.”_

_Sting blushed and panicked, “No it’s not a da--”_

_“Sting? What’re you doing here?” Emi quietly yawned._

_“He came to take you on a date,” Kira slyly remarked._

_“Where are we going?”_

_“Um, the royal gardens are open today.”_

_Emi’s eyes twinkled and she sprinted back into her room to get her cloak. She waved goodbye to Kira and dragged Sting outside._

_“I can’t believe the gardens are open! I checked with them yesterday and they said that they would be closed for a while. This is great!”_

_Sting laughed at the wide smile on her face and brought them to the entrance of the gardens. The guards stood there and looked at the two. Emi walked so that she was standing under their noses and smiled brightly._

_“I’ve come to see the flowers!”_

_“Go ahead in,” the guard grunted._

_“Sting, hurry up! I see some Goatsbeard!”_

_Sting followed Emi through the gardens and laughed as she jumped from patch to patch of all the different flowers._

_“Look at this one. It’s a Polka Dot Plant. Did you know that this plant usually has dark green leaves, but can have colorful dots on it? It’s also deer resistant. This plant can grow up to two feet and--”_

_Sting squatted down to Emi’s level to look at the flowers more closely. He took in the sight of the wide smile that graced her face as he allowed her to move his hand so he could touch the flowers._

_“You sure know a lot about flowers.”_

_“Sorry, should I stop talking so much about it? I know some people can get really bored with--”_

_“Tell me more about this one,” Sting interrupted as he pointed to a patch of pink flowers._

_Emi blinked a couple of times to process his words before tears started forming in her eyes. Sting looked up to ask her again when he saw her wet eyes. He began to panic and quickly stood up and asked her what was wrong._

_“It’s just,” Emi choked, “everyone always ignores me or tells me to stop talking about it so much. People always just push it off and wait for me to stop.”_

“Emi, I never realized you felt that way about flowers,” Levy commented.

Laxus looked over at Emi with a sad look on his face.

“Sorry, brat.”

Emi giggled, “I didn’t mind. Besides, it’s not really in your personality to like looking at anything.”

_His nose crinkled before he took one of her hands._

_“I don’t know what they’re thinking, but I think it’s actually pretty cool that you know all this stuff.”_

_“Really?”_

_“I never would’ve pinned you for a flower enthusiast when we first met. I was thinking more--”_

_“Cold hearted, emotionless, intimidating, scary, mean, vicious--”_

_“Serious and reserved,” Sting corrected. “I wouldn’t have thought that you could smile this wide as soon as you saw flowers.”_

_“When did that fountain get here?” Emi asked suddenly._

_Sting chuckled at how fast she was distracted and told her that it had always been there. She looked at him incredulously before walking over to it._

_“Why are there so many coins in there?”_

_“It’s for wishes. You toss a coin in and make a wish.”_

_Emi hummed before reaching into her pocket and pulling out a coin._

_“I wish--”_

_“You can’t say the wish out loud, Emi. It won’t come true that way.”_

_Emi gasped and quickly closed her mouth. She looked at the coin again and closed her eyes before tossing the coin in. She turned to Sting and handed him a coin._

_“Aren’t you going to make a wish?”_

_Sting smiled and tossed the coin into the fountain._

\----------------------------------------------------

_“Took you two long enough. Were you at the gardens the whole time or did you get distracted?”_

_Emi’s mouth curved into a smile as she recounted their time at the royal gardens. She told Kira all about the different flowers and how she had even made a wish in the fountain. Her smile never left her face as she explained her day._

_“Lady Emiko, can you take me to the gardens next time?”_

_Emi and Sting looked down to see Lector tugging at her cloak. Emi gave a childlike grin and fist bumped the exceed._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another short chapter. I just wanted to get some character development in. I'll be posting a longer chapter later. I hope you enjoyed!


	69. Black Dragon

_“What about this one?”_

_“It doesn’t give enough jewel.”_

_“This one?”_

_“We don’t have the magic abilities to do that one.”_

_“This one has to be it.”_

_“Kira, why don’t we just pick this one?” Emi suggested as she handed over a job request._

_“Because,” Kira stated with annoyance, “that one requires someone like Lector which means Sting would come.”_

_Emi rolled her eyes and put her hand on Kira’s shoulder before telling her that it wouldn’t be that bad._

_“Easy for you to say. You’re dating him.”_

_“Don’t you want someone to carry our stuff?”_

_“No. I want it to just be us this time.”_

_Emi looked at her friend amused before agreeing and picking out a request._

_“What about this one?”_

_Kira shrugged her shoulders and agreed. It was a job to apprehend a rogue wizard, and it said that he was a fire mage. Kira smirked and said that it would be easy for her as a water mage to defeat him. She seemed to realize something and turned to Emi._

_“Didn’t you say that you were weak against fire?”_

_“I’ve learned some water spells that could counter it. Plus I have some other new spells I would like to try.”_

_“Oh hell yes! I get to see new spells. That’s my favorite part of taking jobs with you.”_

_“Not my company?” Emi joked._

_Kira lightly punched Emi on the shoulder before bringing the request flyer to Mich. They quickly packed what they needed and got on the train._

_“It’s like a three hour train ride. This sucks.”_

_Emi was looking at the trees from the window when she turned to Kira and reminded her that at least Sting wasn’t with them._

_“Oh thank god. I would’ve killed him by now.”_

\---------------------------------------------------

_“So where exactly are we supposed to find him?”_

_“Woods.”_

_“I want to go somewhere other than the woods for once,” Kira complained._

_“I actually like the woods. It seems like it would be a great place to live, don’t you think?”_

_“Oh? Are you going to move into the woods one day?” Kira asked playfully._

“And then I did!” Emi cheerfully exclaimed. 

“Yeah,” Laxus grunted, “you sure did.”

_Kira had taken the lead as they walked through the woods. Emi felt a presence behind her and quickly turned around just in time to block an attack that was aimed at her back._

_“Kira, behind you!”_

_Kira looked around and made a “huh?” sound before she barely missed a fireball that flew at her. She huffed before fully facing the rogue wizard. She crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes._

_“You’re not supposed to be here until we get in the middle of the woods. We wanted to chat a little longer before we kicked your ass.”_

_The figure stepped out of the trees with an evil smirk on his face. He was wearing a white cloak and had a big hat that was covering most of his face. Emi stepped forward and put her hand out to silence Kira. Emi quickly cast her Tidal Wave spell, sweeping the wizard off his feet. He clumsily landed on the ground and initiated his Sun Serpent spell._

_Kira smirked before countering with her Sea Serpents. The two spells collided and caused water vapor to cover the area. Emi added her Wind Blade and threw the man against a group of trees. She then used her Dagger Strike to pin him against the tree. Kira sent a wave of water at the man, causing him to start coughing as he struggled to breathe._

_“Well?” Kira confidently asked. “Do you give in yet?”_

_Emi’s eyes widened as the man spoke, “They’ll find you. They’ll get you. Just you see. You’ll all feel the wrath of--”_

_Emi quickly cut the man off with a swift kick to the stomach. He groaned as he slumped over in pain._

_“Emi? What’s wrong?”_

_Emi spoke in a cold tone, “You should go back to the inn, Kira.”_

_“What? What’s wrong? It’s easy enough to turn him in. I can wait to rest.”_

_“You used a lot of magic power in the fight. You should rest.”_

_Kira looked at Emi quisically before slowly nodding and walking out of the forest. She called back before getting out of sight._

_“Just be careful walking him back. He might try something.”_

_“Don’t worry,” Emi sneered, “I can handle him.”_

_Kira disappeared from sight, leaving Emi and the rogue wizard alone. The wizard continued to struggle under the daggers that had pinned him to the tree. Emi smirked devilishly and started to walk closer to him._

_“So, who sent you? Which one?”_

_He paled as he revealed that Sloth had sent him. Emi’s face hardened as she grabbed his throat._

_“I would let you off with a warning, but I know how you people work. The only way to keep you quiet is to make sure you never speak again.”_

_“He’ll get you! He’ll find you and--”_

_Emi squeezed his throat tighter._

_“Say,” Emi started sarcastically, “how powerful are you really? Everyone made you seem like a very powerful wizard, but all I see is a crying man struggling under my grip.”_

_Emi cast her Shell of Divinity spell, saying, “Now nobody will be able to hear you. Isn’t that great?”_

_“Please don’t--”_

_“I’ve been reading a book lately on different dragons. Would you like to see a spell?”_

“Dragon spells? So you can be a dragon slayer?” Natsu yelled.

All the dragon slayers looked to Emi to see that she had tears in her eyes.

“I don’t want to see this. This isn’t who I am.”

Cain soothed, “You did what you had to, kid. Nobody blames you for it.”

“I enjoyed it too much.”

_“Black Dragon: Chaos Assault.”_

_A giant black cloud shot to the ground in front of her before forming into the shape of a dragon. The cloud hardened into a steel dragon with black scales. It’s roar shook the shell and brought down several trees. Emi smirked as the dragon lunged itself at the rogue wizard. His screams echoed off the shell and pierced her ears. The dragon ripped his limbs off before aiming a laser at the body, completely disintegrating it. Emi turned to the black dragon and smiled before patting its nose._

_“You really saved me there! Thanks a lot!”_

_“Daughter of Cain, I can only protect you so much. I will not be able to be summoned in the presence of the Sins. Please keep that in mind.”_

_The dragon broke into black clouds again and blew away._

“Did you just summon Acnologia?!” Fairy Tail exclaimed.

“What? Absolutely not! I would never. That isn’t a real dragon at all. It’s just an illusion.”

“So kind of like Master Mavis and her illusions?” Levy asked.

“It seems to be that way,” Mavis answered.

“FIRST MASTER?!”

“When did you get here?” Makarov shouted in shock. 

\-----------------------------------------

_“There you are. I was starting to worry. Were you able to hand over the rogue wizard to the soldiers?”_

_Emi smiled brightly before nodding and saying that he didn’t put up a fight. Kira took Emi’s hand and led her to their room at the inn._

_“So what’re you doing once we get back?” Kira questioned as they both changed._

_“I told Lector that I would join him and Sting on a job. After that I plan to train.”_

_The white haired wizard looked down in thought._

_“Hey Emi? Are you okay?”_

_Emi jumped before giving her friend a reassuring smile before going to bed._


	70. Question

_Sting sat outside the apartment building waiting for Emi to make her way down. He closed his eyes when he was gently kicked._

_“Don’t tell me you’re already tired?” Emi asked with a glint in her eye._

_“You were taking too long.”_

_Emi helped the dragon slayer up before leading him to the train. Lector landed on top of her head and stayed there until they got on the train._

_“What’s the job anyway?”_

_When Emi got no response, she looked to her left to see Sting looking like he was extremely sick. She let out a small “oh” before giggling to herself. Lector had fallen asleep across from her, so she passed the time by reading her book on armor magic._

_“Emi, you...gotta help me,” Sting pleaded from the floor._

_She shut her book and sighed before pulling him off the floor and guiding him down to her lap. His motion sickness calmed down instantly and his breathing slowed._

\--------------------------------------

_“So it’s a dark guild?”_

_Sting continued to catch his breath as they walked from the train station. He leaned up against a tree while he explained the request._

_“Apparently there’s a dark guild that’s been threatening the townspeople. They’re small in number so I figured that we would be able to handle them ourselves.”_

_Emi hummed as she led Sting and Lector to the inn. They checked in and dropped off their stuff before going to the town’s outskirts._

_“Do you know their schedule?”_

_Sting then explained that they usually come once a week to collect the ransom payment._

_“Ransom? They took someone hostage?”_

_“Yeah, apparently it’s the daughter of the head guard here.”_

_The three of them sat at the entrance to the town and waited. They all spotted a small group of wizards making their way to the town carrying swords and other weapons. Emi sighed before standing up and dusting off her clothes._

_“Will you all just leave this town alone? I’m in a fowl mood and I won’t hold back as much.”_

_The group laughed before commenting that there was nothing one small boy could do to stop them. Emi turned back to Sting, completely ignoring the group._

_“Boy? Again? Why do people always do this?”_

_“Uh, Emi?”_

_“I’m not a child and I’m certainly not a boy--”_

_“Emi, I think you might want to turn arou--”_

_“And why do people always assume that I’m a guy? Why do they--”_

_“If you’re really a girl,” the leader spoke, “why don’t you show us that pretty little body you have going on? I bet you have--”_

_Before the guy could finish, Emi had turned around and elbowed him in the face, causing him to fly back about thirty feet. The other wizards looked at Emi in horror before readying themselves for her next attack._

_“Hasn’t anyone told you to let a woman speak? It’s quite rude. Now will you please give back the girl you’ve taken hostage?”_

_They all looked at each other before the whole group lunged at her. Sting quickly stood up and yanked Emi behind him._

_“Hm? Why put me behind you when I can take care of them myself?”_

_Sting blushed a bit before blaming it on instinct. Emi hummed before stepping so she was beside him and smirking at him. She placed both hands on the ground._

_“Fissure.”_

_A huge crack formed beneath the group and they all fell into a canyon-like terrain. Emi turned around to Sting and gave him a look._

_“Okay, okay. You can do it yourself. Just hurry up. I’m tired.”_

_“But Sting,” Lector chimed in, “you slept the whole train ride!”_

_Emi walked up to the fissure and saw that the guys were crawling up the sides to try to escape. She sighed before telling them that she would let them out if they gave back the girl. The guys laughed in her face, so she decided to add another spell._

_“Cataracta.”_

_Water started pouring from the top of the fissure, creating a double waterfall and washing the group back to the bottom. They started panicking when they found that they wouldn’t be able to get out._

_“Fine! We’ll give her back, but please let us out!”_

_Emi shrugged her shoulders before calling off both spells. The group hurried to catch their breath before being approached by Sting._

_“So, uh, can we take your word that you won’t mess with this town again?”_

_“How on earth do you travel with a monster like that!”_

_“Hey!” Emi defended. “I’m not a monster. You guys are for kidnapping an innocent girl.”_

_“That was a pretty effective strategy back there.”_

_“A bit of emotional torture goes a long way.”_

_“Lady Emiko is scary, Sting!”_

\--------------------------------------

_“So how was the job?”_

_“Boring and insulting.”_

_“What did you do to her, asshole?”_

_“I didn’t do anything!” Sting yelled at Kira. “The guys from the dark guild insulted her again so she’s a little pissed right now.”_

_“Wouldn’t you be if you were called a child?”_

\--------------------------------------------

_“Mister! Can you help me?”_

_Sting and Emi looked behind them to see a little girl standing at their feet. She looked like she was about to cry, causing Sting to kneel down to her height and pat her head. He looked into her teary eyes with ones of concern._

_“Why are you so sad?”_

_“I can’t find my mommy!”_

_“Hmm,” Sting started as he sat down in front of her, “I could definitely help you find them. Just give me a second, kay? Emi, do you mind if--”_

_Emi laughed, “You don’t need to worry about it. I’ll meet you at the bakeshop.”_

_Sting gave her a quick thumbs up before lifting the little girl on his shoulders._

_“Here we go!”_

“You’re actually really good with kids,” Lucy observed. 

Rogue countered, “It helps a lot when he’s a kid himself.”

\------------------------------------------

_“Hey sorry about that. I didn’t think it would take that long.”_

_“Were you able to find her mother?”_

_“She went all across the city looking for her. It was just luck that we ran into her by the palace.”_

_“So what did you want to talk about so bad that you told Lector to stay home?”_

_Sting’s face flushed as his ears burned. He stumbled over his words for a minute before looking over at Emi to see that she had raised her eyebrows at him._

_“Um, I know we’ve been on a lot of dates, and I was just wondering if--”_

“Oh my gosh. You’re totally asking her to be your girlfriend!” Mira exclaimed.

Everyone laughed at the Fairy Tail wizard as she looked on with heart eyes. 

_“Hey losers, what’s up?” Kira asked as she sat down next to Emi._

“No!” Mira screamed.

_Sting looked at Kira, clearly annoyed._

_“Where’s Lector?”_

_“I don’t know,” Sting stated through gritted teeth. “Why don’t you go look for him?”_

_“He’s your cat. You go look.”_

_“Um, Kira? Sting said he had something to tell me, so Lector stayed home.”_

_“Something to tell you? What would he--”_

_Kira smirked before winking at Sting and leaving the shop. Sting sighed before putting his head on the table._

_“Sting? Are you alright?”_

_Sting groaned before looking at her._

_“It’s every time. I have something to say and every single time someone interrupts.”_

_“Uh, Sting?”_

_“Am I cursed?”_

_Emi giggled before trying to coax the dragon slayer to continue what he was saying before Kira came in. Sting sat up and took a breath before carefully taking one of her hands. Emi blushed at the sudden action and looked up to Sting’s scarlet face._

_“Will you--”_

_“Okay kiddies,” the waitress cheerfully said, “I saw you come in so I got your usual ready!”_

_“Thank you very much, miss.”_

_Emi turned to Sting to see his defeated faces and giggled._

_“Will you please--”_

_“Hey Sting?”_

_Sting looked at Emi with his mouth open._

_“Now **you’re** interrupting me?”_

_“I just thought you would want to know that Mich and Rin are watching through the window.”_

_Sting’s head whipped around to see the two Phoenix Wing wizards giving him a thumbs up through the window. The dragon slayer narrowed his eyes at the pair before turning back to Emi._

_“Would you want to be my girlfriend?”_

_Emi’s face immediately turned bright red, but her hood was covering her face so nobody could tell._

_“Okay.”_

_“I mean I know that we...wait, really?”_

_Emi giggled before tapping his hand and motioning for Sting to look out the window. The dragon slayer turned around and saw that all of Phoenix Wing was standing at the window. Sting’s mouth fell agape as they both walked out of the shop._

_“Master Rue? You were in on it too?!”_

__

__

_“I was here with Yuuki and Zack and I’ll be here with you and Emi. I love watching my children grow.”_


	71. I Don't Know What To Call This

_“Secret sharing time!”_

_Emi glanced at Kira with an uncertain look in her eyes._

_“We’re roommates!” Kira defended. “We need to know about each other.”_

_“I thought we did know about each other.”_

_“Barely.”_

_“What exactly did you want to know?”_

_“What was your childhood like? Who was your first crush? Who’s your idol? What’s your goal in life? What—”_

_“My childhood was riddled with tragedy and death. My first crush was murdered in front of me. I don’t have a living idol and my goal in life is to destroy those who brought misery to my life.”_

_Kira blinked a couple times before her mouth flew open._

_“Uh...I’m sorry.”_

_“Is there anything else you wish to know?”_

_“What’s the happiest memory you have?”_

_Emi smiled, saying that her fondest memory was the first time she cast a spell. She expressed the happiness that she felt when she told the story of how she cast her Turbinis spell on top of a mountain._

_“It wasn’t powerful,” Emi laughed. “In fact I wasn’t able to hold the spell at all. It was more like a light breeze if anything.”_

_Kira nodded before crawling over to Emi and giving her a tight hug._

_“I’m really sorry. I shouldn’t push you for information like that.”_

_Emi returned the hug and promised that she didn’t mind. She then raised her brow at the purple haired wizard._

_“What?”_

_“It’s your turn.”_

_“Oh, um. Let’s see,” Kira looked up in through as she held his head. “My childhood was relatively normal before my brother died. It was a weird transition afterwards. My first crush was one of my brother’s friends. It was super awkward when we were little.” Kira laughed before continuing, “My idol is Makarov Dreyar, but you probably already knew that. He’s so awesome! I would love to meet him one day. My goal? Probably to become stronger.”_

“Why does she want to meet the old man so bad?”

Sting and Emi laughed before saying that she grew up with her brother always saying how powerful of a wizard he was. She turned to Makarov and continued explaining. 

“She would always say that she wanted to surpass you, but she always assured us that you were so much stronger than her that she wouldn’t really get there.”

_“I’m really glad I met you, Emi.”_

_Emi looked up surprised._

_“I mean I don’t know what I would be doing without you. I would’ve probably killed Sting by now and Yame would probably be, well…”_

_“Typical Yame?”_

_Kira rubbed the back of her head before laughing quietly. They both sat in silence for a minute before Kira pulled Emi up and pulled her into the kitchen._

_“Anyways, I made something for you and I really want you to give me feedback on it.”_

_Kira set an apple pie in front of her roommate and told her to take a piece. Emi’s eyes lit up and quickly grabbed a fork and shoveled the pie in her mouth. Kira laughed hysterically as she watched her usually stoic friend have sparkling eyes._

_“Cinnamon?”_

_“Yeah. My mom used to make it with cinnamon so I figured I’d try.”_

_“It’s really good. Thank you.”_

\-------------------------------------------------

_“Water Dagger!”_

_“Fury Bolt.”_

_Emi’s lightning struck the water being hurled at her, causing Kira to huff._

_“Can’t you at least go easy on me? Just once?”_

_“I am going easy on you.”_

_“Are you kidding me? Just how much power do you have?”_

_“She’s pretty tough, don’t ya think?” Sting chimed in from his spot under the tree._

_“Shut up, assole. You’re sparring with her next.”_

_“Hell no. I know enough to not--”_

_“It’s true, Sting. You’re fighting me next.”_

_Sting paled as he pleaded with Emi to put off their fight for another day. Kira smirked at the dragon slayer and accused him of being too scared to fight. Emi crossed her arms as she looked him in the eyes._

_“I won’t treat you any differently when sparring just because you’re my boyfriend. You will suffer just as much as the others.”_

_“That’s...that’s so cold, Emi.”_

\---------------------------------------------------------------------

_“Holy Breath!”_

_Emi jumped out of the way of Sting’s attack and landed in a handstand about ten feet away from the dragon slayer. She stayed in this position and stared at Sting._

_“What’re you doi--”_

_“Where there is light, there must be shadow.”_

_“What?”_

_Sting was whipped off his feet and flung at a nearby tree. He struggled to get up and hissed in pain as a branch cut his arm. He looked down in confusion and saw that there was a shadow wrapped around his ankle. The dragon slayer coughed up dust that had entered his lungs from the impact and readied himself again._

_“Sword Summon: Tsuranuki!”_

_A small magic circle appeared to Emi’s right as she pulled out a long sword. She took a stance that dared Sting to come forward._

“That’s the sword that that stupid goatman from Grimoire Heart used!” Gajeel blurted.

“What’s so good about a stupid sword anyway?” Natsu shouted. 

“That stupid sword broke through my iron scales.” 

“I didn’t realize,” Erza stated, “that you were able to use requip magic.”

“I learned it by--”

_“Let me guess,” Sting coughed, “you’re reading a book about armor magic again?”_

_“Isn’t it cool? It’s rumored to be able to cut through dragon scales. I’m sure it won’t do any real damage to dragons, but it says that a couple wizards have been able to take a couple scales off and sell them.”_

_“So in other words, this fight is as good as over.”_

_“Why would you say that? It hasn’t even been five minutes yet.”_

_“Your sword can cut through dragons, Emi.”_

_Emi cancelled her requip spell and the sword disappeared. She smiled before casting a new spell._

_“Wait. Why did you put it away?”_

_“I don’t want the fight to be over yet,” Emi said simply._

_Sting looked at her and rolled his eyes, muttering, “I’m starting to think you like torturing me.”_

_Emi giggled, but didn’t answer._

_“Holy Nova!”_

_“Crap.”_

_Emi was blinded by the immense light that engulfed the field. She couldn’t see the dragon slayer until the very last second when he appeared right in front of her. His hand glowed as he punched Emi’s stomach. When she looked down, she saw a stigma imprinted on her stomach._

_“Who would’ve thought you would play dirty?”_

_Sting smirked as he rushed at her. Emi stood perfectly still, not even bothering to break the stigma of the White Dragon Claw._

_“Why aren’t you trying to move?”_

_“I know I can’t move under this spell, and I find struggling to be rather old fashioned. I will instead simply deny your stigma and continue on with the fight.”_

_“Uh, what?”_

“What the hell does that even mean?” Natsu shouted.

“Nastu,” Lucy hissed, “stop yelling!”

_Emi smiled as Sting continued to stare at her._

_“Dispel.”_

_The stigma immediately disappeared, allowing Emi to move freely again. Sting’s eyes widened as he was kicked in the gut. Emi held Sting’s arm before throwing him to the ground. Sting winced at the impact before looking up to her and asking if she was ready to call it._

_“I have one more spell I wanted to try out. Would you like to see it?”_

_Sting struggled to sit up and looked up at her nervously._

_“This won’t, like, kill me or anything, will it?”_

_“Not too much. I can always heal you.”_

_Sting began to sweat at the mischievous glint present in his girlfriend’s eyes._

_“Come on!” Kira yelled from under the tree. “I’m tired. Stop going easy on each other.”_

_“Asteroid!”_

_Sting watched in wonder as boulders began to form above him. Before he could blink, the boulders had caught on fire and flew up into the air. They then came speeding down and hit the ground surrounding the dragon slayer. The dust cleared to see Sting laying down unable to move and hissing in discomfort. Emi crouched next to Sting and helped him sit up._

_“Now who plays dirty?” Sting groaned._

_Emi giggled before healing him and walking him over to the tree where Kira and Lector were sitting. Kira laughed at Sting before slapping him roughly on the back. The dragon slayer winced in pain, still not fully healed from the fight._

_“Watch it, Water Drain.”_

_“What did you just call me, dragon boy?”_

_Kira and Sting started bickering, causing Emi to walk in between them and grab their ears._

_“ **Enough.** ”_

_The two wizards immediately stopped fighting and smiled sheepishly at the white haired girl._

“Hey Erza,” Mira inquired, “seems an awful lot like you with Natsu and Gray, right?”

_“Now, Sting is going to treat us all to ice cream.”_

_Sting turned to Emi in shock before complaining that he always has to buy it._

_“You lost the fight,” Emi reasoned, “which means you have to pay.”_

_“Kira lost her fight! Why can’t she pay?”_


	72. The Sunsmiths

_“You’re coming with us.”_

_“Why would I go with you, Sewage?”_

_“Because, asshole, we need you whether I like it or not.”_

_“Oh? So you’re saying you need my strength? That I’m stronger than you and you need--”_

_“Both of you knock it off,” Emi groaned. “We need to work together here.”_

_The two continued to bicker before Emi cast her Ice Missile spell and pinned both of them up against trees._

_“ **Enough.** ”_

_“Yes ma’am!” Kira and Sting yelled in unison._

_“Oh thank god,” Ayame breathed._

_Emi then explained that the request was made by the town’s representative. The town has been harassed by a group of intimidating wizards from an unofficial dark guild._

_“What’s an ‘unofficial’ dark guild?”_

_“Basically,” Emi replied, “they’re fairly new and they haven’t done anything notable to be considered a full fledged dark guild. They’re hoping that their actions in this town will prove that they are able to be considered ‘official’ in the eyes of others.”_

_“Well we better kick their asses so that way they’re too ashamed to be a dark guild,” Kira cheered._

_The group of them made their way to the town and were given further details on the guild and their methods. They had found their guildhall and decided to raid the guild while they weren’t expecting it. Sting burst through the door and yelled about how they were going to lose to the Phoenix Wing guild._

_“Like hell you are. No way a puny group like yours can defeat all of us.”_

_Multiple wizards surrounded Sting and went to attack him all at once. Sting smirked and turned as he used his White Dragon Roar, striking down everyone in his path. Emi took care of the men attacking her with her Wind Blade spell, knocking them all towards Kira who cast her Mass Drown spell, successfully knocking them unconscious._

_“So, like, is that it?” Kira asked._

_“It seems so.”_

_“We totally kicked their asses!” Sting exclaimed before his nose twitched and he turned serious. “There’s a group of them outside. I’m going to deal with them.”_

_Ayame agreed to follow him as Kira and Emi shrugged before they started to tie up the unconscious members. Emi suddenly let out a scream as she collapsed on the ground. She winced as she tried touching her ankle._

_“Emi? Are you okay?” Kira yelled as she started to run towards her._

_“I think I broke my ankle.”_

_She looked down to see that a needle penetrated her skin and was dripping with poison. The needle must’ve cracked her bone from the speed that it came flying at her. She struggled to get up but she screamed in pain once there was any pressure on his ankle. Suddenly Kira screamed. When Emi looked up, she saw that a tall and muscular man held Kira by her hair._

_“You’ve messed with the almighty Sunsmiths! Now you pay. Surrender the Cloaked Demon now.”_

_Emi scoffed before wincing in pain again. She tried to cast a spell, but the poison was taking effect and she was unable to summon any magic._

_“Listen here, girlie. You’re going to come with us and surrender quietly. Then maybe you won’t get hurt, and we’ll even spare your friend here.”_

_“Emi...don’t listen to him.”_

_“Kira!”_

_“Well, how about it? Do you accept? If you don’t, I have no problem taking care of her right here.”_

_Emi stood up, wincing at what looked to be a broken ankle. She slowly walked over to the man. Right when she was going to agree, a large boom was heard behind her._

_“What do you think you’re doing, pal?” A voice asked sarcastically._

_“You’re a little late, asshole!” Kira shouted._

_“Hey,” the voice said, “I always say better late than never.”_

_Emi turned around to see Sting and Ayame standing in the doorway with their arms crossed._

_“Now,” he said, cracking his knuckles, “before I beat you to a pulp, do you have any last words?”_

_The enemy laughed loudly while stating that he wasn’t the one who would be dying._

_“Can you hurry up already?” Kira asked, annoyed. “My head hurts from his asshole pulling my hair for so long.”_

_There was a bright light and then the enemy laid face down on the floor. Kira fell out of his grasp and rubbed her head before walking over to Emi and Sting._

_“Took you long enough,” Kira grumbled before walking past him. “Let’s just go. I want a bath.”_

_“As you wish, your highness.” Sting playfully bowed._

_“Emi, you’re not too hurt are you?” Ayame asked, looking at the woman’s ankle._

_“No, I should be fine. It’s just uncomfortable. That’s all.”_

_Emi started to walk behind the two before she screamed in pain. Worry was evident in all of her friends’ eyes, and the blond slowly made his way over to Emi. He suddenly scooped her up and carried her with his hands under her neck and knees. Emi blushed before squirming in his hold._

_“Hey! Put me down! I can walk on my own perfectly fine.”_

_The dragon slayer gave a quick “mmhmm” before carrying her further and tightening his grip as she continued to squirm._

Emi turned to Sting, saying, “This was a memory I had already recovered, but I couldn’t recognize you. Your face was blurred out.”

“How could you possibly forget the day I saved you,” Sting playfully countered. 

\------------------------------------------------

_“Hey Emi? Do you want me to try to remove the poison? I have a gas for that.”_

_Emi turned to Ayame before quickly nodding and asking Sting to put her down. The dragon slayer gently set Emi down so she was leaning against a tree._

_“Gas Summon: Antidote.”_

_A green-ish gas surrounded Emi. The white haired wizard started coughing and the poison started to leak from her ankle._

_“Thanks Yame.”_

_“That gas sure came in handy. Unlike Sting’s flashy moves.”_

_“Yeah well those flashy moves helped save your life, asshole.”_

_“What did you just call me, dragon boy?”_

_“I said--”_

_“Gas Summon: Doze.”_

_A pink gas surrounded both Kira and Sting. They both slipped to the ground unconscious. Emi and Ayame looked at each other before laughing._

_“Your gasses do come in handy. You saved me the effort of scaring them.”_

_“Now we just have to wait for them to wake up.”_


	73. Emi Reveals Her Past

_“I say we spend the day looking at clouds.”_

_“I say we go get ice cream.”_

_“I want to do both!”_

_Sting and Emi focused on Lector before giving each other a look._

_“Uh, actually it’s supposed to be a date, buddy.”_

_Lector looked up at the two before starting to cry. Sting panicked and started saying that he didn’t have to be so sad._

_“He’s right, Lector. If you want to come then come. I don’t mind.”_

_Lector looked up to Emi before smiling and saying, “I’m not sad. I’m just so happy that you guys finally have the guts to do this.”_

_Sting and Emi sweatdropped as they looked to the exceed._

_“I think Kira might be rubbing off on him.”_

_Sting scoffed before agreeing. Lector said his goodbyes and happily floated away in the direction of the guildhall. Sting faced Emi and motioned for her to follow him. They made their way to the hill and sat down._

_“Caterpillar holding a fan?”_

_“Not even close. Moose giving the middle finger.”_

_Sting moved so he was laying down beside her on the grass._

_“I have a question to ask you.”_

_Emi giggled before playfully asking, “Is it one of those questions that will be constantly interrupted?”_

_“Shut up.”_

_Emi looked back up to the sky, peacefully watching the clouds crawl by._

_“Why do you always wear your cloak? You do it even on the guildhall. Lector and Kira are the only others that have seen you.”_

_Emi stayed silent for a moment before stating, “I do this to protect others.”_

_Sting sat up and looked at her quizzically._

_“What does that—”_

_“I’ve already told you that some very powerful people are after me. I conceal myself to hide from them. If they were to find me, they would go after those I hold dear. I can’t let that happen again.”_

_Sting’s face twisted in concern as he hesitantly moved his hand on top of hers. She flinched at the sudden contact before looking over at him in surprise._

_“Just know that Phoenix Wing will always be your family. And family protects family.”_

_“I think that might be a problem in the future, but for now it’s comforting.”_

_Emi gave Sting a small smile and laid down on the grass like Sting did earlier._

_“Can we get ice cream after this?”_

_The dragon slayer let out a loud laugh before laying down beside her._

_“If that’s what you want to do.”_

The group looked at Sting in confusion as they tried to figure out why the wizard had changed so much from back then. Sting noticed their stares and squeezed Emi’s hand.

——————————————

_“I don’t understand why more shops don’t include this flavor.”_

_Sting looked at the apple ice cream, causing his nose to twitch. He let out a chuckle when he saw that Emi was humming as she ate. He had come to know that she did this when she really enjoyed what she was doing, so it was a sign that she liked whatever she was eating. He continued to eat his apple pie before going to hold her hand again. Emi flinched again before slowly pulling away._

_“I’m sorry. Not here.”_

_Sting sighed before turning back to his pie._

_“It’s not that I don’t want to. It’s just...do you want to go to your apartment?”_

_“Huh?”_

_“Would you like to go back to your apartment or would you like to come to mine and Kira’s?”_

_Sting’s face turned scarlet as he choked on his pie. He stumbled over his words before asking her to clarify._

_“I would like to tell you something, but I wish to do it in private. Nobody can hear this.”_

_Sting sighed in relief before paying for their desserts and leading her back to his apartment. Emi’s face twisted in disgust._

_“Your apartment is filthy again.”_

_“No it’s not.”_

_“You have clothes all over the floor again.”_

_“I haven’t had the—”_

_“Time? You had three days off.”_

_Sting grumbled before he was handed a trash bag by his girlfriend. He rolled his eyes and began to sort through his clothes as she sat down on the couch. He would look towards her every now and then to see that she had started to read a book._

_“What are you reading now?”_

_“Garden magic.”_

_Sting had stopped sorting and sat beside Emi on the couch, looking at the book over her shoulder. He watched as she flipped through the pages._

_“So does garden magic just get you to tend to plants?”_

_“It lets you create and grow plants that can serve a variety of purposes. It’s kind of like the gas magic Yame uses. This magic allows the caster to manipulate the earth like flowers and trees.”_

_“Would knowing all these different plants help make the magic stronger?”_

_“It’s possible. Now get back to work.”_

_Sting groaned before picking the bag of clothes back up and continuing to sort his clothes._

_“This is supposed to be a date, ya know.”_

_“We can continue the date once your apartment is livable again.”_

_Sting quickly worked to finish sorting his clothes and threw the bags in the corner of his room._

_“There!” Sting exclaimed, puffing up his chest._

_The dragon slayer was met with silence. He looked over to the couch to see that Emi was so focused on her book that she hadn’t heard anything that he had said. Sting decided to flop on the couch next to her to try to gain her attention, but ended up getting sucked into the book as well._

“Who knew that you knew how to read,” Rogue commented.

“I don’t insult you when looking at memories!”

Everyone looked at Sting unimpressed, noting that nobody sees each other’s memories. 

_“Did you finish sorting?” Emi said suddenly._

_Sting motioned to his clean apartment before turning to Emi and shutting her book. Emi raised an eyebrow at the dragon slayer before Sting reminded her that she had something that she wanted to tell him. Emi let out a soft “oh” before crossing her legs and facing him on the couch._

_“So what did you need to talk to me about that it had to be in private?”_

_“I wanted to tell you about what is going to happen to me.”_

_Sting nodded, still confused._

_“I have been trained to kill. My teacher taught me the ways of being a slayer.”_

_“Kill? Like a dragon slayer?”_

_“I am different from a dragon slayer. I am what they call a demon slayer.”_

_“Demon...slayer? What is--”_

_“Just as the name states, I am trained in magic that kills demons. I have been on a mission to annihilate the demons present in the Book of Zeref.”_

_“ **Zeref**? You mean the black wizard, Zeref?”_

_Emi nodded stiffly before continuing, “My teacher, Cain, died trying to protect me from the Sins. He--”_

_“Who are the Sins?”_

_“The seven highest ranking demons in the Book of Zeref: Envy, Lust, Pride, Greed, Gluttony, Sloth and Wrath. Individually they are as strong as a Wizard Saint, maybe stronger. When all seven are together, they are impossible to beat. Not even my teacher could take them on, and he himself was a demon from the Book of Zeref.”_

_“You were trained by a demon? Is that what you meant a long time ago when you said that you lost your humanity?”_

_“Yes. He was Cain Sato, the Blue Demon from the Book of Zeref. His rank was just below the Sins. Since then, four of the Sins have been defeated, as well as the Four Beast Elements, Assassin and Delorca. I’ve heard that Deliora has also been dealt with, though I had no hand in that.”_

_“Were they all killed by...you?”_

_“That’s right. Of the demons left, there is Gluttony, Sloth and Wrath. Acnologia is also still free, but I have no idea where the Black Dragon could be.”_

_“So when you said you were hiding, you meant--”_

_“The Sins are after me. They’ve sent multiple spies to find my location. I have had to...deal with them as they came up.”_

_Sting hesitantly inquired, “That guy from the ball?”_

_“I dropped the carriage off a cliff.”_

_“That rogue wizard that disappeared after you told Kira to leave and get an inn?”_

_“I used a high level spell to completely disintegrate his body.”_

_“Were there, um, any more?”_

_“There was an incident in the streets of Crocus where a couple of guys informed me that they would be reporting my location to Gluttony. I used an acid-based spell to dissolve their bodies.”_

_“Emi, I--”_

_“I understand if you are disgusted. I understand if you will hate me and I understand if you have come to fear me. This is not something that I am proud of, but it’s something that must be done. You can look at me with as much disgust and hatred as you--”_

_“Hey, hey. Shh,” Sting soothed. “I don’t hate you and I never could. Come here.”_

_Sting pulled Emi into a hug and held her as she shook. He could feel his shirt starting to get wet from her tears as she sobbed._

_“I just...don’t want to run...anymore,” Emi choked. “I’m so sick of...always running away. I finally made...some friends and I don’t want to leave again! I only kill when I have to...but it keeps happening. I just--”_

_Sting rocked them as she continued to whimper._

_“I don’t deserve to have friends and I certainly don’t deserve to have someone that holds romantic feelings for me. I should be alone. I should die alone. I should be killing the demons behind the scenes and then die in a way that nobody would miss me.”_

_“But that’s not a way to live at all.”_

_“I am to be a shadow that lives in the places others are afraid of. I am, afterall, a demon wearing human skin.”_

_“You’re human, Emi. You always have been and you always will be. I’ll be here to remind you of that. And believe me, I won’t let you forget.”_

_“Do you...mean that? You’ll...do that?”_

_Sting held her tighter and placed his head on top of hers._

_“I promise.”_

_The two stayed like that for a few minutes in complete silence before Emi started giggling. Sting looked down in concern and shock before she turned her head upwards and smiled sheepishly._

_“So...does this mean you’ll get me another ice cream?”_

_Sting howled before holding her at a distance from her shoulders._

_“I think I can do that.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all. So just a quick note. In this particular story, Tartaros isn't a thing and the demons mentioned here are the only ones present in this storyline. Sorry if it was a little unclear. Thanks for reading!


	74. Vulcan

“This looks like a couple days after the last memory,” Sting observed. 

_“Okay,” Sting blurted as he and Emi were sitting on his couch, “what do I have to not do?”_

_Emi looked up from her book and tilted her head, asking him to elaborate._

_“If you’re hiding, do I have to hide from these people, too?”_

_Emi rolled her eyes before explaining, “They are mostly interested in my whereabouts and my death, but they would have fun in emotionally torturing me first by harming and killing those I hold dear. For now, I have been able to eliminate the spies that have seen me with you and the others, but I think that I should still try to keep my relationships with you and Phoenix Wing a secret just in case they try to come after you.”_

_“So...no bragging that you’re my girlfriend?”_

_Emi blushed before slapping him on the arm while squeaking, “Knock it off! This is serious.”_

_Sting chuckled before asking, “So what are the ‘rules’ of this situation?”_

_Emi shrugged before replying, “I guess no PDA. Also it would probably be best if the townspeople don’t know either just in case. I don’t want them harmed.”_

_“Deal.”_

\------------------------------------------------------------------

_“Emi, do you want to go on a job with us?”_

_Emi struggled to hold the bags of groceries in her hands as she was stopped in the streets by Ayame, Kira, Sting and Lector._

_“Um guys, can you--”_

_Lector interrupted, “We’re going on a mountain job!”_

_“That’s interesting. Do you think--”_

_Ayame continued, “It’s supposed to be some Vulcan hunt or something.”_

_“Cool. Listen, I need--”_

_“Here you go,” Sting said as he took the bags from her hands just as she was about to drop them._

_Emi breathed, “Thank you.”_

_“So?” Kira questioned. “What do you say? Up to kick some Vulcan ass?”_

_“Definitely.”_

\---------------------------------------------------

_“Pretty woman.”_

_“Put me down!”_

_The group whipped their heads around to see that a group of Vulcans captured Kira and was holding her upside down by her feet. Ayame stepped forward and put her hands up._

_“Gas Summon: Confuse.”_

_A yellow gas surrounded the group of Vulcans before they had dropped Kira and turned towards each other._

_“Pretty woman. Pretty woman. Pretty woman.”_

_They all had heart eyes as they looked at each other. The wizards watched as the Vulcans started fighting each other. Emi turned to Ayame and started laughing._

_“What? I had a gas for that.”_

_“There seems to be a gas for everything.”_

_“Man this sucks. I didn’t even get to fight anything,” Sting complained._

“Oh yeah, we can totally tell that Natsu is your idol.”

Sting turned to Lucy and Cana and huffed.

_There was a rumble behind them. When they all turned around, there were about thirty Vulcans standing there._

_“Pretty woman.”_

_“Oh hell yes. Come on, you Vulcan idiots. It’s time to brush up on my magic.”_

_Everyone rolled their eyes at the dragon slayer except Lector._

_“That’s right, Sting! You’re the strongest wizard ever!”_

_“White Dragon Roar!”_

_Sting’s attack took out half the Vulcans, throwing them off the side of the mountain. He turned to the others and readied another spell when he was kicked in the back of the knee by Kira._

_“No way you get all the fun. Move aside.”_

_Kira took out the other half with her Rushing Waters spell. Sting whined as he stood back up, complaining, “You always do this. Why can’t I just do all of it every once in a while?”_

_“Because it’s only fair that we all get to do something.”_

_“What about me?” Emi spoke up._

_Everyone looked to the white haired wizard before shrugging._

_“You always do stuff,” Ayame explained. “We figured we should give you a break sometimes.”_

_Another rumble was heard before they found that another large group of Vulcans were standing there. Emi looked to everyone before asking if she could take this group._

_“But Emi,” Kira reasoned, “there had to be almost fifty of them.”_

_“But you all were able to fight some.”_

_“Let her do it,” Sting spoke up. “She just wants something to do.”_

_Emi smiled before turning to the Vulcans._

_“Give me the pretty woman.”_

_“But I am a pretty woman.”_

_“No! Pretty woman! No boy!”_

_Emi’s eyes twitched as she looked back at her friends._

_“Really? Even Vulcans think I’m a guy? And a child at that? How insulting.”_

_Everyone sweatdropped before telling her to deal with the Vulcans so that they could head back._

_“Do I kill them?”_

_“What? Emi, no.”_

_“Ice Make: Dragon.”_

“Lyon uses that spell, right Gray?”

Gray nodded before turning back to Emi and asking her to try to teach him more Ice Make magic. 

“I mean you’ve read all those books and you seem to definitely know what you’re doing.”

“Of course! I would be happy to teach you.”

_A huge ice dragon lunged at the Vulcans before pushing them off the side of the mountain in one swing. Emi twirled back to face her friends who looked at her in shock._

_“What?”_

_“Lady Emiko is scary.”_


	75. Emi's Scars (Vacation!)

_“Yame, what the hell are you doing?”_

_“I love all of you so much,” Ayame slurs._

_Sting and Kira sighed as Emi giggled. The white haired girl brought a glass of water over to the drunk woman and performed a healing spell on her head. Ayame sobered up rather quickly and walked over to the group._

_“Emi, I still have no idea how you do that.”_

_“Alcohol is considered a drug, so I used my healing spell to reverse the effects of any drugs in the body.”_

_“Anyway,” Sting started before turning to Ayame, “we were all going on a mission in a couple days, and we wanted to ask you to come. That is, of course, if you’re not drunk out of your mind.”_

_“Oh hell yes. Going on jobs is awesome when Emi is going.”_

_“Great!” Emi cheered. “We leave in two days. We’ll meet here.”_

\------------------------------------------------------

_“Lady Emiko! Sting has something to ask you!”_

_“Lector! Don’t you dare--”_

_“Why are you two yelling?”_

_Lector had made it over to the cloaked girl and floated in front of her._

_“Sting wants to know if--”_

_Sting had caught up to Lector and quickly put a hand over the exceed’s mouth._

_“Sting? What’s going on? Why are you two acting so strange?”_

_“Uh,” Sting stumbled over his words as he rubbed the back of his neck, “we were maybe wondering if--”_

_“We want you to go on vacation with us!”_

_“Lector!”_

_“Va...cation?”_

_Lector and Sting stopped bickering and turned to Emi with raised eyebrows._

_“You don’t know what a vacation is?”_

_Emi shook her head and asked for the pair to elaborate. Lector and Sting looked at each other before trying to explain._

_“A vacation is like a longer break from jobs. You go somewhere and relax.”_

_Lector nodded and continued, “It’s super fun. We always go to the beach!”_

_“The beach? Why do you go there?”_

_Lector spoke up, “Because the beach is fun! You get to swim and build castles and lay in the sun.”_

_“Plus,” Sting added with a wink, “there’s lots of ice cream there.”_

_“Aren’t we going on a job in a couple days?”_

_“That gives us just enough time. We were leaving tonight so we could be there tomorrow morning and spend the day.”_

_“We’ll sleep in an inn and then leave the next day to come home!” Lector excitedly explained._

_“Do we have to tell Kira and Yame?”_

_“But they know Sting and I are going. Why wouldn’t they assume that you would come with us?”_

_Emi looked at Lector in confusion, asking, “Why would they think that?”_

_“Because you’re Sting’s girlfriend.”_

_Emi and Sting blushed in embarrassment as people walking by started to stare at the exceed’s outburst._

_“Lector,” Sting hissed, “don’t do that.”_

_“Don’t do what? You are! Why is it a secret?”_

_“Lector,” Emi started calmly, “we’re not trying to hide it because we don’t want people knowing. It’s just that I can’t let certain people know where I am or who I associate with.”_

_“That’s weird,” Lector commented before floating away._

_Sting looked at Emi apologetically before taking her hand._

_“Sorry about him. He gets a little excited. He, uh, really likes you.”_

_Emi smiled and gently squeezed his hand._

_“Let’s go find him before he eats all the food at your apartment.”_

“That’s going to be so cute!” Mira exclaimed with hearts in her eyes.

Everyone laughed at her enthusiasm and waited for the next memory to play.

\----------------------------------------------

_“The train sure is empty, don’t you think?” Emi questioned out loud._

_“That’s a good thing, Lady Emiko. We have a couple hours to go.”_

_“Do you think he’ll be okay?” Emi asked the exceed._

_“Well…”_

_“I’m gonna...be sick. Let...me die.”_

_Emi and Lector completely ignored the dragon slayer and looked out the window. Emi pointed to a couple different trees and explained them to Lector._

_“That’s a Winter Daphne. Isn’t it pretty?”_

_“Wow, Lady Emiko. How do you know all this stuff?”_

_Emi pulled out her flower book and showed it to Lector. She handed it over to him and pointed out the different flowers and trees that the book featured. Lector flipped through the book to look at the pictures._

_“Can you read this page for me?”_

\-------------------------------------------

_“You go check in at the inn and we’ll gather all the stuff,” Sting said excitedly._

_Emi laughed at his energy, noting the contrast from how sick he was on the train. She turned and made her way into the inn before going into the room. She flopped down on one of the beds and spread out like a starfish._

_“I hope this vacation will be fun. I’ve never been on one.”_

_After a while Emi stood up and started to take off her cloak and change. Sting and Lector had flung the door open, surprising Emi._

_“So everything should be all s—”_

_Emi and Sting looked at each other for a couple seconds before Sting started to apologize._

_“I don’t get what the big deal is. Why are you so shaken? I have clothes on.”_

_“I just--”_

_“Lady Emiko, what happened to your back?!”_

_“Lector!” Sting barked._

_Lector looked between the two and let out an “oh” before apologizing and sitting on one of the beds. Sting looked over at Emi to see that she was looking at her back scars in the mirror._

_“I’m sorry about him. He gets--”_

_“Lector, if you wish to know about them then I can tell you.”_

_“Emi, you don’t have to--”_

_“I can also tell you if you want to know. Everything else has been told. I might as well share this.”_

_Lector and Sting sat on one bed while Emi sat on the other. The boys faced Emi as she explained that a new scar forms every time she defeats a Sin._

_“So far, I’ve defeated four Sins, so I have four of these scars.”_

_“Why do they look like whip scars?” Lector asked._

_“It is to be a form of punishment for trying to stand against those that are of the same race as the person who taught me the demon slayer magic.”_

_“So if you defeat all the Sins, you’ll have seven scars?”_

_“If I am able to kill all seven Sins, my purpose would be completed, and I will eventually die from the overflow of magic.”_

The group gasped as they looked to Emi with concern. Emi stared straight ahead at the memory and refused to look at anyone. 

“Emi, will you really--”

“It must be done to stop the Book of Zeref. I will bear that responsibility.”

_Sting and Lector looked at the white haired wizard with wide eyes. Lector started to cry, which seemed to bring Sting out of his shocked trance._

_“Little buddy--”_

_“I don’t want Lady Emiko to die!” Lector said as he fought through the tears._

_Emi repeated the words that she had said to Sting the other day, “I should die in a way that nobody would miss me. I should die alone. This is why I was told to not become close with anyone. This is why I always traveled alone. But it seems things have changed.”_

_“There has to be a loophole of some sort, right?”_

_Emi nodded before going to tell him._

_“There might be a way around it, but it’s a longshot at best. I could--”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm posting a couple of chapters because the last one was short. I'll probably post on more even though it's longer. Enjoy!


	76. Let's Go To The Beach (Vacation!)

“WHAT? Why didn’t we get to finish the memory!” Natsu yelled.

“We were about to find out a way to stop it and it changed? Why would it do that? I thought we were supposed to see her memories in full. Emi, did you do anything to change the memory?” Lucy asked, still shocked.

Emi shook her head before everyone turned to Cain.

“It’s dangerous and reckless, not to mention life threatening.”

They all asked him to explain more, but the Blue Demon refused to give further details. 

_“Let’s go to the beach!”_

_Lector took Emi’s hand and pulled her out of bed. He floated and did figure eights in the air in front of her. Emi laughed at the exceed’s energy before turning back to see that Sting was still sound asleep._

_“Sting! Wake up! It’s time for the beach,” Lector screamed._

_“Lector, is the beach fun?”_

_“Of course it is! You can do so much stuff there.”_

_“I see.”_

_Emi suddenly whipped a pillow at Sting’s head, causing the dragon slayer to fall onto the floor. He groaned and quickly sat up with a fire in his eyes._

_“Alright, who threw that? Lector?”_

_Sting looked up to see that Emi was standing with another pillow in her hand. He paled, realizing that it was her that threw the first one._

_“Didn’t you hear Lector? He said he wants to go to the beach. I would also like to go.”_

_Sting sighed before pulling himself off the floor and walking to the bathroom._

_“Hurry up, Sting! I want to go.”_

_Sting and Emi laughed at Lector before they both got dressed and headed out to the beach._

_“So this is a beach? It looks like a desert with an ocean.”_

_“That’s a lake, which means there’s no sharks!”_

“Aw, Lector, were you afraid of some sharks?” Lucy sarcastically asked.

Lector stumbled over his words before he finally got out, “Everyone should be scared of sharks. They’re very dangerous.”

“Someone’s a scaredy cat.”

Emi picked Lector up before commenting, “You were how old back then, Lector? Eight?”

“I was nine!”

Everyone let out an “oh” before turning back to the memory.

_“Lector, slow down. You’re going to get lost.”_

_“Well then hurry it up, Sting. I want to build a sandcastle!”_

_They had all arrived at the beach. Sting and Emi started to set up the towels while Lector flew over to the edge of the water._

_“Lector,” Sting reminded, “remember to not go too deep.”_

_“Don’t you worry about that, Sting. I’m just getting my feet wet.”_

_Emi turned to Sting in confusion, asking, “Why can’t he go in deep? Is it because he’s short?”_

_“He, uh, can’t swim that well yet.”_

_Emi nodded before looking at all the people on the sand and in the water._

_“It’s very crowded.”_

_Sting laughed before saying that the beach was always crowded during the time of the year._

_“What’s this for?” Emi asked as she held up a small shovel._

_“It’s to dig holes and play in the sand.”_

_“What’s this for?”_

_“You don’t know what an umbrella is?”_

_“I do, but why do we need it here?”_

_“It’s to keep the sun from making us too hot. Besides, I think you’ll need it if you’re wearing your cloak all day.”_

_“So what do you like to do at the beach?”_

_“Swim, nap, eat. Stuff like that.”_

_“You feel safe sleeping in a busy place like this?”_

_“Nobody is hunting me to kill me, Emi.”_

_“Oh,” Emi quietly responded. “What does Lector like to do?”_

_“He swims when I watch him, but his favorite thing to do is play in the sand.”_

_Emi hummed before looking at the edge of the lake to see Lector splashing around at the place where the water meets the sand. She smiled when she saw him start to laugh. He seemed to pick up something before he started to run over to the couple._

_“Look what I caught!”_

_Lector proudly held up a small fish in his paws._

_“Lector,” Sting started, “what did I tell you about fish you find here?”_

_Lector looked down before replying, “I know. I can’t eat them.”_

\---------------------------------------------

_“Are you enjoying yourself yet?”_

_“I still don’t understand the concept, but it seems very relaxing.”_

_Sting laughed before laying down on a towel with his hands behind his head. Emi looked towards Lector to see that he was playing with a couple of children by the water._

_“He seems to be having a lot of fun.”_

_“Yeah. This is, like, his favorite place.”_

_“Hey you,” an unknown voice started, “what is a cloaked freak like you doing here?”_

_Emi looked up to the rather tall man and went to say something, but Sting had already jumped up from his position and was standing toe to toe with the man._

_“Wanna say that again, buddy?”_

_“I said--”_

_“Why do you care that I’m wearing a cloak? It does you no harm.”_

_“Oh? You’re a girl, huh? Your voice sounds like you’re hot, so why don’t you take off that cloak of yours and show me what you look like in your swimsuit.”_

_“I’m sorry, but I’m not wearing a swimsuit. I would also rather you not make such remarks about me.”_

_“Don’t be shy.”_

_Sting spoke up, mocking his tone, “Don’t be perverted.”_

_“What did you say to me, you little punk? I’ll have you know that I can easily beat you to a pulp.”_

_“Oh? Really now? I’d love to see you tr--”_

_“Sting, we came here to relax. Just ignore him.”_

_The man turned to Emi with his eyes narrowed. He went to strike Sting, but his punch was caught by Emi’s right hand._

_The man’s eyes widened as he stood in disbelief, saying, “How could you have stopped that, and with one hand?”_

_Emi smirked underneath her hood and looked to see that Sting had laid back down. Emi rolled her eyes before turning back to the man._

_“Now, I’ll ask you again. WIll you please leave us alone?”_

_The man scurried all the way across the beach. Emi sat back down next to Sting before making a sarcastic remark about how he could have helped her._

_“Hey, I asked him to leave. I did my part. You could handle the rest. I was about to fall asleep and he ruined it.”_

_Emi giggled before seeing that Lector had disappeared from her sight._

_“Uh, Sting?”_

_Sting groaned before opening one of his eyes and asking her why she wouldn’t let him sleep. Emi continued to look at the area where Lector was playing earlier._

_“Uh, Sting. Do you know where Lector is?”_

_“He’s over at the water edge playing with some kids.”_

_“Um, I don’t see him anywhere.”_

_At this, Sting shot up and started to frantically scan across the beach for the maroon exceed._

_“Lector!”_

_Sting started walking near the water and screaming Lector’s name. Emi got up to look and walked in the other direction. When she couldn’t find him anywhere, she went back to the towels to try to find Sting. Emi sweatdropped when she saw Letcor curled up on his towel, fast asleep. Emi ran over to Sting and saw that he was a nervous mess._

_“I think we’re both going to feel like idiots after I show you something,” Emi said as she took his hand and led him back to the towels._

_“What’re you doing? We have to look for--”_

_Sting stopped talking when he saw Lector asleep._

_“Has he...been there the whole time?”_

_“Probably.”_

_Sting sighed before laying down on his towel and trying to nap again. He quickly dozed off, leaving Emi as the only conscious member of their group._

_“What am I supposed to do now?”_

\---------------------------------------------------------

_“Emi, will you please help me build a sandcastle? Sting is asleep.”_

_Emi looked away from her book to see Lector patiently standing in front of her with his shovel and pail. She closed her book and placed it back in her bag before nodding and standing up from the towel. Lector cheered before taking her hand in his paw and running over to an empty spot in the sand._

_“So how do you build a sandcastle?”_

_“You fill the bucket up with sand and turn it over to get the sand in the shape of the bucket. I have this really cool bucket that already has a castle designed on it, so we’ll use that for the top of the castle.”_

_“Interesting. So I just fill the bucket with sand then?”_

_“Yes, but we should use some moist sand from near the water for the bottom of the castle. It sticks easier and stays in shape longer.”_

_“I never realized that building sandcastles took this much critical planning,” Emi said as she listened to each step carefully._

_The two worked together to build a sandcastle that looked perfect. Lector suggested that they dig a mote to surround the castle, and Emi said that they would be able to build a bridge to the castle using some sticks that they found. Sting had spotted them in the sand when he woke up from his nap and smiled fondly at the two before walking over to them. It seemed that they didn’t notice he was there until he spoke._

_“You could also use some seashells to--”_

_Lector and Emi screamed at the sudden voice before turning around to see a laughing Sting._

_“Sorry guys. But I was saying that you could decorate the castle with seashells.”_

_Emi’s eyes lit up as she took the seashells from Sting and placed them on the sides of the castle._

_“That’s perfect!” Lector screamed. “Sting, you’re the best thinker ever!”_

_“It’s getting kind of dark out, don’t you think?” Emi observed._

_“What? No!” Lector shouted. “We can’t leave yet! I haven’t gone swimming!”_

_“Okay, buddy,” Sting laughed, “we can go for a quick swim.”_

_Lector cheered before grabbing his floaties and tugging Sting to the water. Emi smiled at the two of them laughing and splashing each other._

_“I guess they were right. The beach is quite fun.”_


	77. Last Day

_The three made their way to a grassy area on their way back to the inn. They noticed that everyone was sitting in groups, which made them curious._

_“Hey,” Sting asked a random couple, “why is everyone out here?”_

_“Well there were supposed to be fireworks, but it seems that they couldn’t get them to work.”_

_Emi thought for a minute before speaking up, “I can make some fireworks.”_

_“Really? How?”_

_“We’re wizards!” Lector yelled. “And she has a great spell for it!”_

_Emi stood a distance from everyone and put her hands in the sky._

_“Rupti Sunt.”_

_Balls of light flew off into the sky before exploding into fireworks. Everyone cheered as they watched the lights flicker and sparkle in the sky. Emi smiled as she looked on to how happy everyone was._

\-----------------------------------------------------------------

_“Today was actually really fun.”_

_Sting and Lector high fived each other after hearing that Emi had enjoyed herself._

_“That’s what a vacation is supposed to be, Lady Emiko.”_

_“I never would’ve expected such a crowded place to be so relaxing.”_

_Sting chuckled before leading them all back to the inn. They dropped all their beach stuff on the floor before Lector flew into the bathroom, yelling that he got the first shower._

_“Shower? Didn’t you both already go swimming?”_

_Sting explained that it was to rinse any sand that they might have carried back with them. Emi nodded and told him that she would shower last before she sat on the floor next to one of the beds. Sting went to ask her what she was doing, but he saw her pull a book out of her bag. Sting sat beside her and peeked over her shoulder._

_“What’s this one on?”_

_“It’s called ‘Rogue’s Legacy’ and it isn’t technically a book on magic spells, but it still offers some insight into magic. It’s about a dragon who turned evil once he witnessed the death of his friend. It’s said that he went back in time to open a portal for other dragons!”_

“Isn’t that exactly what happened with the Eclipse Gate the other day?” Levy asked.

Everyone looked towards Emi to see that she was smiling sheepishly. 

“I would’ve totally told you if I had remembered.”

_“Where’d you get a book like that?”_

_“Some guy saw me reading the other day and gave me the book free of charge! Isn’t that cool?”_

Sting was the next one to look away in embarrassment.

“I totally forgot about this. I would’ve told you when we met, Rogue.”

_Sting leaned back on the side of the bed and read a little over her shoulder when Lector came out of the bathroom all wet._

_“I’m all clean, Sting! Do we have a clean towel?”_

_Emi closed her book before throwing a towel over to the exceed. She looked to Sting and motioned for him to go into the bathroom next._

_“Lady Emiko, can I see your plant book again?”_

_Emi smiled before reaching into her bag and taking out the book Arthur had given her. Lector’s eyes sparkled as he looked at all the different plants._

_“What’s this one? It’s really pretty.”_

_“That’s Boneset. It can attract bees and butterflies.”_

_“Lady Emiko?”_

_“Hm?”_

_“You’re not going to die, right? Sting can do what you said and you’ll live?”_

_“Maybe, but let’s not worry about that yet, okay?”_

_Lector looked down, his eyes teary. Emi quickly held his paws and gave them a reassuring squeeze. She smiled brightly before tapping his head._

_“Don’t you worry about me! If you remember, I can beat Sting.”_

_“And Sting is the strongest wizard ever!” Lector cheered._

_They both heard Sting’s laughter as he stood in the doorway of the bathroom. Emi giggled as Lector flew over to Sting and landed on his head. Emi gathered her clothes and walked into the bathroom. She was able to hear part of the conversation the two were having before she shut the bathroom door._

_“Lady Emiko said that she’ll be alright, Sting!”_

_“We knew that, Lector! We just have to--”_

“Why can’t we just find out about it already?” Natsu shouted.

“Natsu,” Lucy hissed, “how many times do I have to tell you to stop yelling?”

_She shut the door and stepped into the shower, letting the water hit her back. She looked up to the shower head with cold eyes._

_“I’ll kill anyone who stands in the way of their happiness.”_

\-----------------------------------------------------

_Emi stood in the doorway to see that the two were sitting cross legged on the floor facing each other._

_“Um, what are you two doing?”_

_“We’re having a staring contest,” Sting replied without breaking eye contact with Lector._

_“Were you doing this the entire time I was in the shower?”_

_They both replied in unison, “Absolutely.”_

_Emi rolled her eyes before lightly patting her hair with the towel. Lector had blinked in the meantime, causing Sting to celebrate by releasing his legs from the crossed position and stretching them._

_“Hey Emi, do you think you can pass me the--”_

_Sting looked towards Emi and stopped when he saw her. He looked like he was in a trance of some sort, which caused Emi to look at him in concern._

_“Um, Sting?”_

_He seemed to be brought back by her voice and he quickly shook his head to release whatever he was thinking about. He rubbed the back of his head before apologizing and asking what she wanted._

_“I didn’t want anything. You were the one who asked me to pass you something.”_

_“Oh, uh, right. I don’t...uh, remember anymore.”_

“Someone’s in lllooovvveee.”

“For once,” Lucy stated, “I agree with Happy.”

Sting blushed before turning away to face Rogue and Emi when he saw that Rogue was giving him the same look. He huffed and crossed his arms.

_Emi raised an eyebrow at the dragon slayer before shrugging her shoulders and sitting on one of the beds. She ran her fingers gently through her hair before looking over at her cloak._

_“It’s all filled with sand. I have to shake it out.”_

_“Wait!” Lector yelled. “Don’t do it in here. We just showered!”_

_“I can’t do it outsi--”_

_Sting interrupted, “I’ll take it outside and do it. Just stay here.”_

_Sting left, leaving Lector and Emi alone again._

_“Lady Emiko, you’re really pretty.”_

_“But I haven’t changed since the last time you saw me.”_

_“I like your hair when it’s wet.”_

_“Um, thanks.”_

\---------------------------------------------------------------

_“So we head back tomorrow morning?”_

_Sting turned to the white haired girl and nodded, explaining that they would leave early in the morning so that they would have plenty of time to ride the train and arrive back in Crocus._

_“I’m planning on getting back to Crocus by midday.”_

_“Sting, Lady Emiko? Can we go to bed now? I’m tired.”_

_They both laughed and told Lector that he could go to bed and they would go out on the balcony to continue to talk._

_“I want my own bed tonight! Sting hogs all the blankets.”_

_Sting’s mouth hung open as he tried to defend himself. He then stumbled over his words and his face grew hot from the implication. Emi simply shrugged before going to the balcony._

_“It’s very peaceful at night,” Emi stated from under her hood._

_Sting leaned his arms on the railing as he looked up to the sky._

_“Sting?”_

_“Yeah?”_

_“Thank you for inviting me. I had a lot of fun.”_

_“I’m glad.”_


	78. Fight! Sting vs Kira

_Sting and Emi came back from the balcony to see that Lector had taken Emi’s bed and was sprawled across the sheets. Emi took off her cloak before suggesting that they go to bed. Sting stood stiffly in the middle of the room._

_“Are you okay? Aren’t you tired?”_

_“Well, I...yeah.”_

_“Then go to bed.”_

_“I just--”_

_“I don’t get what the big deal is. We’ve shared a bed before.”_

_Sting sighed before pulling back the covers and laying in bed. Emi followed suit and laid facing the door. They were facing away from each other for a while, but Emi turned to face Sting’s back after a few minutes._

_“Sting?”_

_The blond turned his head over his shoulder and asked her to continue._

_“I don’t have any more of the gas Yame gave me, so I’m probably going to have some dreams.”_

_Sting stayed silent for a minute before he shifted so he fully turned around to face her. He gave her a small smile as he held one of her hands. She tightened her grip on his hand before closing her eyes and falling asleep. Sting watched her for a minute with a smile on his face before dozing off as well._

_After about an hour, Emi started shaking. She felt a burning sensation on her back, causing her to jump awake. She looked to Sting and saw that he was sleeping soundly. She could hear Lector snoring from the other bed. Her back wouldn’t stop burning, so she got out of bed and walked to the bathroom. When she looked in the mirror, she saw that her scars were a bright red._

_“Hey are you--”_

_Emi whipped around and kicked whoever it was in the stomach. She looked down to see that it was Sting and rushed over to him with her healing spell._

_“I am so sorry.”_

_“Damn, I’m so glad you never go all out when we fight.”_

_“Why are you--”_

_“I heard you get out of bed, so I came to check on you. What happened?”_

_“I don’t really know to be honest,” Emi hesitantly replied._

\-------------------------------------------------

_Emi and Sting had woken up early the next day, so they stood on the balcony to talk as Lector still slept._

_“So how often do you go on vacation?”_

_“Every once in a while,” Sting replied, smirking._

_They stood in silence before Sting turned to Emi and held her hands in his. Emi looked up from her hood and looked at him quizzically. He led her to the balcony edge before he leaned on the railing and asked her to follow. Emi leaned her hands on the railing before looking back to Sting. They looked at each other for a minute before they slowly started to move towards each other._

“YES!”

“Mira, please don’t shout.”

_Just as their heads were getting close enough, Lector sneezed as he woke up. The two jumped apart before Sting rubbed the back of his head and breathed, “Guess it’s time to go.”_

_Emi sighed before taking one last look at the morning sky before turning around and gathering all her stuff for the train ride back._

“NO!”

“Mira!”

\------------------------------------------------

_“So where were you three? Off partying on some boat?” Ayame asked once they came into the guildhall._

_“No way, Yame,” Kira countered. “The idiot could never survive a boat ride. Don’t you remember that octopus request we took a while back?”_

_“We went to the beach,” Emi simply stated._

_“No way. You actually went with those two? How on earth did you survive?”_

_“Very funny, Rin. We actually had a really great time!” Sting defended._

_“I spent the day at the beach and then I made fireworks.”_

_“Did you...take off your cloak at all?” Yuuki asked._

_“No.”_

_“So...what exactly were you able to do at the beach then?” Mich inquired._

_Emi started, “Well I read my book on the towel--”_

_“Of course,” everyone chimed in._

_“Well I also built a sandcastle with Lector. It was a very fun day.”_

_“Oh? And how many beds were there?” KIra asked slyly._

_Sting blushed a bright scarlet, causing Kira to snicker._

_“There were two,” Emi stated smoothly._

_“Oh,” Mich muttered. That’s no fun at all.”_

_Sting looked to Emi and saw that she was giving him a mischievous smile towards him. He silently thanked her with a head nod before turning back to the group._

_“We’re still on for the mission tomorrow, right?” Kira suddenly asked._

_Ayame, Sting, Lector and Emi all nodded before going over all the plans. Sting was, to no surprise, in charge of carrying all the supplies._

_“It’s only a B-rank mission, so it should be relatively easy. Apparently Jasper City has some bandits that are invading the mines and stopping all money flow from coming.”_

_“I’ve heard that Jasper City is primarily a mining town, so it’s no surprise that they would need this done ASAP.”_

_“Well then,” Lector and Sting yelled, “let’s get to Jasper City!’_

_“Guys, we’re not leaving until tomorrow. Why don’t you give Emi a couple hours to debrief from a hectic day with you two.”_

_Sting and Lector rolled their eyes at Ayame before wandering over to the bar._

_“Hey Emi, we should totally spar.”_

_“Kira! Didn’t I just tell them to let her be?”_

_“But we’re roommates. It’s different.”_

_“Why don’t you and Sting spar since you two have so much energy,” Ayame suggested._

_Kira’s eyes snapped down to the ground as she shifted. She sighed before going to leave. Emi looked at her with concern._

_“Kira, are you oka--”_

_“What’s the matter, Water Drain? Afraid I’m going to win again?”_

_“Go away.”_

_With that, Kira walked out of the guildhall and into the city of Crocus. Emi turned to the rest of Phoenix Wing and asked what was wrong._

_“They always fought whenever they got the chance, but Kira has never been able to beat him. He always wins, so she vowed to not fight him anymore until she was sure that she could at least get a tie out of the fight.”_

_“I’m just that strong! She doesn’t stand a cha--”_

_“I believe she can beat you now. When was the last time you two sparred?”_

_“Uh, a couple months ago I think. Emi, what’re you--”_

_“She can definitely get a tie with you now. I believe in her. Meet me in the park in ten minutes.”_

_Before she could get a response, Emi ran out the door. She caught up to Kira quickly and grabbed her shoulder._

_“You’re fighting Sting in the park in ten minutes.”_

_“What? No! Emi, I can’t. I’m not--”_

_“You are definitely strong enough. I’ve seen you improve so much just since I’ve met you.”_

_“I really don’t think that--”_

_“You pushed me to be my best self, and now I’m doing the same thing to you. You’ve learned so many new and powerful spells. I believe in my heart that you will be able to match him. You just have to believe in yourself.”_

_Kira looked uncertain before she sighed and followed Emi to the park. When they got there, they saw all of Phoenix Wing standing there, including Master Rue. Kira began to pale and try to back away, but Emi held her by the ear and dragged her over to the field. She looked into Kira’s eyes and whispered to her._

_“I believe you can do it. I believe because I believe in you.”_

_Emi backed away from her best friend before running over to where the others were, leaving Sting and Kira facing each other in the field. Sting was smirking._

_“I never thought I would fight you again! Are you ready to lose?”_

_A fire burned in Kira’s heart as her usual sarcastic demeanor reappeared._

_“I’d like to see you try, dragon boy. I’ll beat your ass.”_

_The match started when Sting released his White Dragon Roar, causing Kira to jump out of the way. She landed on her feet and stood up straight with her arms hung in the air._

_“Depthsurge!”_

_Water from the nearby rivers came floating above them before it exploded into different water spikes. Everyone looked on in astonishment._

_“Since when can she--”_

_“She’s been working very hard in the time that I’ve known her. She asks to spar with me every chance we get, and she’s always training. It’s no surprise to me that she’s able to cast more powerful spells. Plus,” Emi’s eyes twinkled, “I’ve been showing her different spell books for water spells.”_

_Sting’s eyes widened as he tried to dodge all the water. He ended up getting cut by a spike as he jumped away. He then cast his White Dragon Holy Breath to cancel the rest of her spell. Kira smirked before she cast her Sea Serpents spell, causing two giant serpents to rush at Sting. He used his Holy Breath again to turn the serpents into vapor before rushing at her, aiming to use his White Dragon Claw to immobilize her. Kira looked over at Emi, as if asking for permission for something. Emi made eye contact with Kira before enthusiastically waving her hands as she cheered._

_“I’ll try out one more spell before that one. Jet of Steam!”_

_Kira’s hands heated up as a thin and focused jet of boiling water flooded out of her palms. Sting jumped back and cast Holy Ray, which seemed to cancel out Kira's spell. They both looked at each other before Kira smiled brightly and cast her final spell._

_“Pressure Sphere!”_

_At her command, water came rushing at Sting before forming a bubble around him. Sting smirked before getting ready to break through her spell. He was, however, met with the water pressurizing into an unbearable weight. He felt like his insides were turning. The bubble moved so it touched the ground, and Sting fell to his knees as the pressure knocked him down._

_“No way,” all of Phoenix Wing gasped._

_Sting looked up as he struggled to see Kira smiling so big that her eyes were closing. He continued to fight the pressure, but he was eventually forced completely on the ground. Emi signalled for Kira to stop the spell before she ran over and hugged the purple haired wizard. Kira started crying, making the cloaked girl hug her tighter._

_“You did it!”_

_“Holy shit! I did it! I beat Sting!”_

_“How...did you--”_

_“Emi’s been training me. That’s why we fought so often. Maybe you should’ve joined every once in a while instead of laying there under the tree and sleeping.”_

_Emi quickly healed Kira before turning her attention to Sting and healing him._

_“Hey Sting, now it looks like three of us can beat you,” Rin smugly stated._

_“You act as if you’re one of them,” Ursa muttered._

_“Who are the people who can beat Sting?” Emi inquired._

_“You, Master Rue, and now Kira.”_

_“Wait, seriously. So that means that--”_

_“That’s right!” Sting exclaimed, back to normal. “I’m the strongest member of Phoenix Wing!”_

_Kira coughed, “You **were** the strongest member of Phoenix Wing. Now I believe we have someone who can kick your ass in her sleep. And you also have me to compete with now.”_

_Everyone laughed as Sting pouted in the field._


	79. Gluttony

_“Man this place gives me the creeps. How can anyone work down here all day?”_

_The group laughed at Ayame as they walked through the mine. They eventually found the middle of the mine and saw that there were about fifteen thieves guarding the tunnels._

_“I call taking those guys!” Kira yelled as she pointed to four thieves with swords and axes._

_“I’ll go take those guys,” Ayame said as she motioned towards the three distracted men._

_Sting and Emi looked at each other before splitting the rest up between them._

_“I’ll take the right if you take the left,” Sting whispered._

_Emi playfully whined as she whispered back, “Oh but I wanted the right!”_

_Sting rolled his eyes before casting his Holy Breath and knocking all of the remaining thieves down. He smirked at Emi as she started to complain that she didn’t get to do anything. One of the thieves started to stand up, which gave Emi the time to cast her Cloudkill spell._

_“Everyone hold your breath!”_

_“What do you--”_

_A big cloud of poison engulfed the thieves. They started coughing up blood which made Kira scream at Emi to stop. She canceled the spell and looked at the group in confusion._

_“You were killing them, Emi!”_

_“No I wasn’t. It’s a mild poison that knocks people unconscious. It wasn’t going to seriously hurt them.”_

_Everyone looked at Emi unimpressed as they started tying up the thieves and bringing them back to town._

\--------------------------------------------------------

_“You guys are back really early. Did Emi go overboard again?”_

_Emi huffed before walking over to the bar and ordering an apple juice._

_“I never--”_

_Everyone looked at her accusingly._

_“Emi, you **always** go overboard. Every time you take a request, you either almost kill them all or you end up destroying something.”_

“Hey Gramps, this means she fits in perfectly with Fairy Tail!” Natsu urged. 

“Laxus,” Makarov started, “how on earth did you manage to meet a girl that fits in so easily without either of you knowing it?”

Laxus shrugged before ruffling Emi’s hair, saying, “Guess it was meant to be.”

“No way!” Sting exclaimed as he rushed over to Emi and picked her up. “She’s coming to Sabertooth!”

“You wanna bet?!” Natsu shouted.

“Will you guys please--”

“ **Enough.** ” 

Everyone paled at the sight of an angry Emi. They all have never experienced this side of her first-hand, so they silenced immediately. Except for one.

“Oh come on, Em,” Sting continued. “You can’t seriously be--”

Emi turned to him and dared him to continue speaking. Sting sighed before holding her hand and tugging her back over to the opposite side of the group where Rogue was standing. 

_“I don’t think I go that overboard.”_

_“Uh, actually,” Sting hesitantly spoke up, “you kind of do. I mean it’s not too bad or anything. But sometimes you forget that we have to keep people alive.”_

_“Can you blame me?” Emi countered before she walked out._

_Kira and Ursa started, “Hey! Where are you--”_

_Emi had closed the guildhall doors and started to walk through the empty streets of Crocus. Emi liked the city at night, as there were no crowds that forced her to try to squirm between people. She made her way to the roof that gave her a great view of the royal gardens and sat down. She sighed as she sat holding her knees to her chest._

_“I just wish that I--”_

_“Didn’t have to go overboard?”_

_Emi jumped at the sudden voice and turned to see Sting speaking from the ground._

_“How did you--”_

_Sting simply tapped his nose before he asked if he could join her. Emi shrugged before turning back to the gardens._

_“It’s not your fault that you have the instinct to protect yourself.”_

_“I don’t want to protect myself. I want to protect others. I don’t care if I die in the process.”_

_Sting quietly sat next to her, close so that they were almost touching. His hand hovered over hers for a second before retreating back to his side, remembering that he shouldn’t do that in public. Emi quickly grabbed his hand back and held it tightly. He could feel her start to shake._

_“Emi--”_

_“Sh.”_

_Sting looked at her confused before she suddenly stood up and turned to the direction of the edge of town. She pulled her hood off and scanned the area._

_“Uh, Emi? Don’t you need your hood--”_

_Emi held out a hand to silence him once more. She had a very serious look on her face, eyes narrowed and jaw clenched._

_“I need to leave town,” Emi stated bluntly._

_“Are you oka--”_

_“I’ll take a job in a nearby village.”_

_“Wait!” Sting yelled as he grabbed her wrist gently to stop her from jumping off the roof. “Let me come with you.”_

_“No.”_

_“I promised you I would protect you and I’m not going back on my word,” Sting argued._

_Emi stayed silent for a moment before nodding._

_“Great. Let’s go pick one out. We leave as soon as we pick one.”_

\----------------------------------------------

_“Where are you guys going so late? Can’t it wait until morning to leave?”_

_“We have an urgent request we need to complete.”_

_Emi handed Mich the request before dragging Sting out the door._

_“Hey Ursa, look after Lector for me, would ya?” Sting screamed from the street._

_Master Rue took one look at the request and slipped to the edge of town to meet the two wizards._

_“Children?”_

_Sting and Emi jumped at the sudden presence of their master. They faced him as he started to question them._

_“This is a D-class request. Why are you so hurried to leave?”_

_“Master, we have to--”_

_“For the safety of the town and our guild, I must leave urgently.”_

_“Sting?”_

_“I’m going with her to make sure she comes back safely to the guild.”_

_Master Rue sighed before seeing them off._

_“Please, children, make it back safely.”_

\---------------------------------------------------

_“So where are we even going? It says we’re going to--”_

_“We’re not going where the request came from. We’re going to an abandoned city near Onibus Town. We’ll hide there.”_

_“What exactly are we hiding from?”_

_“I sense a Sin near Crocus, which means that they found out where I am. I’m going to lure them to the abandoned city and take care of them there. Nobody will witness it and nobody has to know.”_

_“Cool. I’m ready to kick some demon ass--”_

_“No.”_

_“What do you mean no?”_

_“You’re not fighting. I’m doing this myself.”_

_“Emi, you can’t be seri--”_

_“This is a Sin, Sting. It’s not something that can be messed around with. I aim to go straight for the kill, and I don’t want you getting in the way of any fatal spells. If he sees you, he’ll aim for you because he’ll know I’ll try to protect others from getting hurt. I don’t need that distraction.”_

_“Emi…”_

_“Hurry up and get on the train.”_

_Sting and Emi boarded the train and headed towards Onibus Town. Once the train started moving, Sting became sick and fell to the floor. Emi kept looking out the window with her eyes narrowed. Emi suddenly turned to Sting and pulled him up from the floor before elbowing him in the gut, knocking him unconscious._

_“Sorry, Sting. I can’t be distracted right now.”_

\-------------------------------------------------------

_“For an abandoned city it looks well taken care of.”_

_“This used to be the place where Cain and I would train. It was near Onibus, so we would be able to gather supplies rather easily.”_

_They walked in silence for a minute before Emi stopped walking and spoke up._

_“I need you to stay clear of the fight. I would like for you to hide in one of the buildings at the edge of the city and stay there until I say you can come out.”_

_Sting went to argue, but he saw that she looked down in sadness._

_“Are you okay?”_

_“I’m fine,” Emi said as she pulled her hood off. “I just hate doing this when there’s people to protect.”_

_Emi’s ears perked up as she heard a small rumble from the center of town. She turned to Sting and told him to hurry to his hiding spot._

“Wait, so you just hid the entire time? You didn’t even help?” Natsu shouted.

Sting turned away from the fire dragon slayer. 

_“Well, well, well. If it isn’t the demon’s child.”_

_Emi turned to face the green-haired Sin._

_“Long time no see, Gluttony,” Emi sarcastically remarked._

_“I’ve finally found you after all this time. Tell me, how many of my little spies have you killed? They never seem to make it back. It’s a shame.”_

_“Don’t worry. You’ll see them soon enough.”_

_“Oh? I see you still have that spunk.”_

_They stared at each other for a minute, the whole town becoming completely silent. Gluttony then lunged at Emi with hands glowing black. Emi was able to barely dodge the attack, but Gluttony didn’t stop the momentum, so he continued and ended up destroying the building behind her. A loud crash was heard as the building fell. Emi cast her Asteroid spell, causing fiery boulders to rush towards Gluttony. The Sin perfectly dodged the attack and cast a destruction spell._

_“Chaos!”_

_The ground started to break, causing more buildings to fall. Emi got caught in one of the cracks that formed. She glared at the Sin before casting Divinity Surge, causing a stream of light to engulf Gluttony. The Sin began to scream as the holy energy of the spell ate away at his demonic soul. He broke the spell after a few seconds and started to breathe heavily. He looked at her with a murderous glint in his eyes before smirking and casting his Disintegrate spell._

_“Let’s see how you handle this one, daughter of Cain.”_

_A huge ray had shot out of the sky and surrounded the city. It then narrowed to focus solely on Emi, focusing all the power of the spell at her. A black and purple blast exploded in her direction. She looked at it with wide eyes before trying to jump out of the way._

_“Just know that if this spell even scratches you, you will die!” Gluttony happily yelled._

_“Is that so?”_

_Right as the explosion was about to touch ground, Emi held her hands in front of her._

_“Dispel.”_

_With that, the explosion and ray completely disappeared. Emi looked up to see that Gluttony was watching her in disbelief. He glared at her._

_“Where did you learn that spell?! You shouldn’t have been able to even use it!”_

_“Cain taught me that spell just before I set out to kill Delorca. It sure comes in handy, don’t you agree?”_

_“I’ll just finish you once and for all. Execute!”_

_Emi didn’t have time to cast her Dispel again, so she had no choice but to dodge perfectly in order to prevent herself from dying. She flipped over the magic circle that had formed beneath her and landed on top of a building. Gluttony lunged at her again before pushing her into the magic circle. Emi struggled under his grip and was finally able to fold her knees under him and kick his face, sending him flying into another building. She quickly jumped out of the way of the magic circle just in time to dodge the massive explosion that came from it._

_“Ad Deum!”_

_A blinding light came from Emi’s hands and engulfed the city. While Gluttony was unable to see, Emi rushed at him with her Virtue Hymn._

_“Perdere lucem ac tenebras.”_

_A small ball of concentrated light formed in Emi’s hands before she punched Gluttony in the stomach. The Sin screamed in agony as the Virtue Hymn started to purge the unholy energy from him. All went quiet soon after. Sting had heard the long silence and came out of his spot._

_“Hey you did it--”_

_“Get back!” Emi yelled harshly._

_“What do you--”_

_“Chaos...Spawn!”_

_Emi looked on in horror as a giant blast of destruction magic went speeding towards the dragon slayer. Emi cast her Dispel once more, making the spell cancel right before it hit Sting. She rushed over to Gluttony and lunged at him._

_“Sword Summon: Chrysaor!”_

_A long gold sword appeared in Emi’s right hand. In one swift motion, Emi had sliced through the neck of Gluttony. His body fell over as Emi caught her breath. She took the sword and pierced his heart before holding up his decapitated head._

_“Immolate.”_

_Gluttony’s head burst into flames and continued to burn once Emi threw it on the ground. She looked at the body with cold eyes before whipping her head around to face the pale-faced Sting._

_“ **What** do you think you were doing?!”_

_“I thought it was over when I couldn’t hear anything.”_

_“You almost got killed! I told you to stay put until it was done. You put yourself in danger and then you didn’t even react!”_

_“Emi--”_

_“If that spell even barely touched you, you would be dead. This is why I wanted to come alone, but you insisted on coming.”_

_“Emi, I--”_

_“I’m not finished yet!”_

_Sting quickly shut his mouth as he listened to Emi scream at him some more._

“You’re super scary when you’re mad, Emi,” Wendy spoke.

“No kidding,” Sting, Lector and Laxus replied.

_“And another thing--”_

_Sting grabbed Emi and pulled her into a hug. Emi stiffened before she started to sniffle and gripped his shirt. They stayed like that for a minute before Sting held her at a distance and smiled at her._

_“Why don’t I take you to the gardens as an apology.”_

_Emi sniffled one more time before wiping her eyes and smacking him on the head._

_“Don’t ever do that again or I’ll kill you myself.”_


	80. Aftermath

_“Well now that that’s over, we have to actually complete the request that we took.”_

_“What? No way. We just fought--”_

_Emi looked at him blankly._

_“Okay, **you** just fought a super high rank demon. Why would you have to do this request as well? We can just say that--”_

_“We took the request, so now we complete it. Besides, it’s a D-rank.”_

_Sting sighed before asking what it was._

_“It’s located in Magnolia. And before you say anything about Fairy Tail, the request clearly states that the item be returned ‘without any damage.’ Anyway, some famous artist’s violin was stolen and the thieves have been camping out in the forest surrounding the town. She just wants us to retrieve the violin and return it to her.”_

_“Well, let’s go. I guess.”_

_Emi slipped her hood back on and followed Sting to the train station._

_“Hey, you’re not gonna knock me out again...are you?”_

_Emi nervously smiled as she apologized and assured him that she wouldn’t. She motioned for him to lay on her lap, and five minutes later Sting was asleep. They arrived in Magnolia just as the sun was rising._

_“So do we just go straight for the forest?”_

_“We have to check in with the woman first. She’s located in the center of Magnolia. I can do that. Why don’t you check in with the inn? I’ll tell her that we will start the job in the evening.”_

_“You sure she’ll be okay with that?”_

_“The best time to ambush a group of thieves in the woods is when it’s dark, so I’m sure she’ll understand. Go get some rest.”_

_“Shouldn’t you be the one resting? Just how much magic power did you use?”_

_Emi ignored him and walked towards the center of Magnolia. She noted that the streets were no way near as crowded as the streets in Crocus. She had bumped into someone on the way by which knocked her over to the ground._

_“My apologies. I should be more careful in the streets.”_

“No way!” Natsu shouted. “Erza?!”

“My, my. It seems we have also met before,” Erza observed as she looked towards Emi.

“Seems so,” Emi returned with a smile.

“I never noticed before, but you two kind of talk the same, especially back then.”

Erza and Emi both turned to Lucy before giving her a weird look and responded in perfect unison, “I don’t believe so. Our manners of speaking are quite different.”

Everyone sweatdropped.

_“Oh no, it’s fine. I was too focused on the surroundings that I forgot to look around.”_

_“Where are you headed? I may be able to assist you there.”_

_“Do you know where Melody Sanctum resides?”_

_Erza nodded, “I do indeed. Let me take you there.”_

_Erza and Emi started walking through the streets when she was approached by a blue cat._

“It’s me again!”

_“Natsu and the others are fighting again, Erza! You have to help us break them up.”_

_“Happy, I am busy at the moment. I have to escort this child somewhere.”_

_Emi’s eyes twitched._

_“...Child?”_

_“Oh okay! I’ll get Laxus to help then.”_

_Happy floated away, leaving Emi and Erza to continue their walk._

_“I don’t recall ever seeing you around here.”_

_“I’m just visiting for a job request with my partner.”_

_“I see. What’s your name?”_

_Emi stayed quiet for a few seconds before saying, “I’m Po, and my partner is...Pugly.”_

“Seriously?” Sting chided. “You couldn’t come up with better names?”

“I’m not good under pressure!”

_“Very well, Po. Here is Miss Sanctum’s house. I’ll be taking my leave now. Good luck.”_

\-----------------------------------------------------

_“Took you long enough,” Sting complained._

_“I had to ask for directions, and then she was eating so she made me sit down with her to have tea.”_

_“All with your hood on?”_

_Emi nodded before flopping on the bed and moaning, “I’m so tired.”_

_“Well yeah. You used up a huge amount of mana. It’s a wonder that you can even walk on your own.”_

_“I’m...used to working past...exhaustion. Cain always made me...train until I passed out.”_

_“He sounds super harsh.”_

_Emi smiled and added, “He was, but he was the best teacher I could’ve had.”_

“Well isn’t that so nice of you, kid.”

Emi gave a lopsided grin to Cain before laughing. 

_Emi got up and flung the covers down before jumping back into bed and holding her arms out._

_“Come take a nap with me,” Emi whined._

_Sting let out a loud laugh before slowly laying on the bed. Emi fell asleep before he could even pull the covers up._

\-------------------------------------------------

_Emi led the way through the forest as they looked for the camp. After a while, Sting’s nose picked up a scent. They followed it right to the camp, where five men were sitting around a fire._

_“So?”_

_“What?”_

_“How do you want to do this? Should we take them by surprise of maybe--”_

_“Hey assholes, give us back the violin!”_

_Emi rolled her eyes at Sting before following him to the camp. They all glared at the dragon slayer before rushing towards him._

_“Earthworm!”_

_All five thieves were knocked to the ground. The first one to get up started throwing swords at Emi, which she quickly dodged. She grabbed one of the swords in midair and whipped it back at him._

_‘“Uh, Emi, we’re not supposed to ki--”_

_“I didn’t. He’s just pinned to the tree. It’s not my fault he passed out.”_

_“Listen here, you cloaked freak. You’re gonna pay for what you did to Kodama!”_

_The remaining four thieves rushed at Emi, causing her to sigh and ask, “Why does everyone always aim at me?”_

_“Probably because you instigated the whole thing.”_

_Emi completely ignored the thieves as they ran towards her to turn to Sting and defend herself._

_“But it wasn’t me this time. You were the one who started yelling at them.”_

_“Uh, Emi--”_

_“Besides, I only try to complete the job as quickly as possible. It’s not my fault that they don’t like being beat up. Maybe they should think about that before.”_

_“Emi--”_

_Three of the thieves had made their way right next to Emi while she wasn’t paying attention. Emi side glanced at them before holding her hand out and shooting a ball of lightning out of her palms, successfully knocking three of them back. She then kicked the fourth one in the shins and threw him back as well._

_“Don’t you all have any manners?” Emi smugly asked. “You would think someone would teach you not to interrupt a girl when she’s having a conversation.”_

_“You gotta stop doing that.”_

_“Doing what?”_

_Sting sighed before going over to the thieves. He crouched down and looked to see that all of them were unconscious._

_“Way to go, Emi. They’ll all out. Now they won’t be able to tell us where--”_

_“But it’s right here,” Emi said bluntly as she held up the violin._

_Emi walked past Sting and started walking through the woods and back to Magnolia._

_“Hey, wait up!”_

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------

_“Oh my! I can’t even begin to thank you enough. Please name whatever you want and I’ll be happy to give it to you.”_

_“That’s not necessary, Miss Sanctum. We will just take the reward you placed. There is no need to further thank us.”_

_“You’re a very nice child. And strong too!” Melody exclaimed as she handed over the reward._

_Before Emi could say anything back to her about not being a child, Sting grabbed the cloak near the neck area and picked Emi up and carried her out of the house._

_“Am I a child, Sting? She ate with me and spoke with me for an hour and she still thinks I’m a child! Why would a child wear a cloak?”_

_“Emi, you can’t get worked up like this every time it happens. You’ll explode.”_

\----------------------------------------------------------------------

_“We’re back!” Sting shouted as they walked into Phoenix Wing’s guildhall._

_Master Rue walked over to them and motioned for them to follow him to his office._

_“Are they getting in trouble?” Yuuki asked hesitantly._

_“He’s probably gonna yell at them for getting some extra ‘alone time’ with each other,” Kira slyly commented._

_Mich agreed, “They were gone for three days. That request should’ve been done in a couple hours.”_

_“Ew,” Rin choked. “I don’t wanna know.”_

_“We can hear you!” Sting yelled from the upper level as he blushed._

_The three of them had stood in the master’s office. Master Rue invited them to sit by his desk as he started to interrogate them._

_“Everything went smoothly,” Emi explained. “We eliminated the issue without any serious injury and then we went to Magnolia to complete the request.”_

_“Why would you run away in the dark of night to rush out of the city and then afterward head to Magnolia to do the job? How much danger were you faced with?”_

_“It was just five thieves. Nothing serious at all. We--”_

_“That’s not what I meant!” Master Rue harshly put._

_Emi’s eyes grew cold as she replied, “It was taken care of without serious injury, as I have told you. I needed to do what I had to in order to protect Fiore, and then we completed the job to fulfill the responsibilities of the guild.”_

_“Child, you can’t keep putting yourself in danger.”_

_“I do this to protect the people. I do this to prevent destruction. I do this to fulfill my mission given to me by the one that trained me for this very purpose.”_

_“Sting, you shouldn’t let her--”_

_“WIth all due respect, Master,” Emi replied harshly, “Sting has nothing to do with this. He should be allowed to leave if you wish to question me further.”_

“You really spoke to your master like that?” Cana slurred. “You got some balls on you.”

“I do what I have to. This was necessary.”

_Master Rue sighed before telling Sting he could leave. Sting looked towards Emi one more time before gently touching her shoulder on his way out. Emi and the master looked to each other with determined eyes._

_“Tell me exactly what you were running from.”_

_“I’ve already briefed you on my situation. I had sensed that one of them was nearing the city, so I left in order to lure them to a place where they wouldn’t be a threat to anyone other than me.”_

_“And Sting? Was he in harm’s way?”_

_“I asked him to stay out of the fight and go to a place where the attacker could not find him.”_

_“Yes. I have no doubts that you asked. But did he actually listen?”_

_Emi stayed silent for a moment before shaking her head. She then explained that she was able to stop the attacks from hurting the dragon slayer._

_“Child--”_

_“If you wish to kick me out of this guild, I understand. I have put one of your members in harm's way directly, and I also pose a threat to the others as long as I am being pursued.”_


	81. S-Class

_“Emi!”_

_Emi turned around to see Kira running after her. The purple haired wizard caught up to her and gave her a tight hug._

_“Where are you going? You weren’t in the apartment this morning when I woke up, so I got worried.”_

“No way! He didn’t actually kick you out of the guild, did he?” Natsu shouted.

Makarov looked towards the girl in pity.

_“Sorry for worrying you. I’m off on a job request.”_

_“Oh cool! I’ll come with yo--”_

_“I have to go on my own.”_

_“Why?”_

_“It’s an S-rank request.”_

_“ **S-RANK?!** No way! How on earth did you get to do that?”_

_“Master promoted me to S-class last night and said that I should take this mission that’s been hanging on the board for a while.”_

_“No fucking way. I can’t believe our newest member is the first S-class member in the guild. Not even Sting is S-class. That’s so cool, Emi!”_

Everyone sighed in relief, glad that she was able to stay with her guild.

_“I should get going now. I’ll be back soon enough.”_

\------------------------------------------------

_“Well that was easy enough,” Emi shrugged as she handed over the target to the Magic Council._

_She started to walk away when she froze at the soldier’s words._

_“Hey, thanks for helping us, but our captain would like for you to take off your hood in case you’re working with this guy.”_

_“Why?”_

_“To confirm that you’re a guild wizard and not a criminal.”_

_“I can assure you I am a member of a guild. See?” Emi lifted her arm to show her crest on her shoulder._

_“That’s unfortunately not enough.”_

_“I decline.”_

_She went to move, but her arm was caught by her shoulder from Lahar._

_“It’s no big deal, mister. We just need to see your face.”_

_Emi stayed still before looking up to Lahar and grumbling. She slowly removed her hood, raised her eyebrow and then put her hood back on. She turned to walk away again when she heard Lahar call out._

_“Hey, aren’t you that little girl that used to travel with--”_

_“If you know, then why ask?”_

_“I’ll take that as a yes then. Tell him we still appreciate what he’s done, but we’re not going to let him free from what he’s do--”_

_“He’s dead. Is that enough for you?”_

\----------------------------------------------------

_Emi walked into the guildhall and was surprised when everyone jumped out from their hiding spots._

_“Surprise! Welcome back!”_

_“Why are you welcoming me like this? I’ve only been gone for a few days.”_

_“It was your first S-rank request, Emi! You deserve a celebration.”_

_“I can’t believe this is actually happening,” Mich exclaimed through tears. “I’ve been waiting so long to throw an S-class party!”_

_“Lady Emiko!” Lector yelled as he flew full speed into her arms._

_“Lector, what’s wrong?”_

_Sting spoke up from behind her, making her jump, “He just missed you.”_

_She smiled at all her friends before stretching and saying that she should go speak to the master. Emi approached his office and was called in just as she was about to knock on the door._

_“I see you’ve completed your request. The children were very excited to hear that we now have our first S-class wizard.”_

_“I appreciate you doing this for me, Master Rue.”_

_“I figured it would give you a good excuse to leave town suddenly when needed. Nobody can accompany you if they aren’t S-class, so you won’t have to worry about others in danger. Plus, you have proven to be more than capable of holding S-class.”_

_“Thank you, sir.”_

\-------------------------------------------------------------

_“Lady Emiko, you have to join us for a job request!”_

_Emi looked up from her book and questioned the dragon slayer and exceed on what it was._

_“It’s just an escort job for some important merchant traveling through the forest near Malba City. Pretty easy job for our new S-class wizard like yourself.”_

_“When do we leave?”_

_“Whenever you want.”_

_“Good,” Emi said, laying down. “I’m taking a short nap.”_

_“...Here?”_

_“Obviously not,” Emi stated as she sat up under the tree. “And Kira is having a weird ‘hype day’ or whatever where she just jumps around the apartment and makes these weird noises, so the only other place is the guildhall or your apartment. And I would like to take off my cloak while I sleep.”_

_“So...my place?”_

_“How nice of you to offer!”_

_Sting rolled his eyes before pulling Emi up and leading her to his apartment. Emi raced to and jumped on the bed as soon as they walked through the door. Sting chuckled before flopping on the couch with Lector._

_“Your apartment is filthy again,” Emi remarked from the bed._

_“Aren’t you supposed to be taking a nap?”_

_“How can I possibly sleep when I’m surrounded in a mess?”_

_Emi got up from the bed and started to walk towards Lector’s pile of vests._

_“No! Go take a nap. We’ll clean later.”_

—————————

_“Okay boys, let’s head out!”_

_“How can you have so much energy, Lady Emiko?” Lector groaned. “We’ve been cleaning for the past two hours.”_

_Emi wagged a finger at the two, before scolding them, “We wouldn’t have to clean if you two kept your apartment decent.”_

_“Let’s just get this train ride over with.”_

——————————

_“It’s nice to meet you, Mister Oli. We’ll be escorting you through the forest.”_

_The group started their journey into the forest as the sun went down. Oli and Emi had engaged in light conversation as Sting and Lector followed close behind. Emi and Sting stopped walking when they heard something running through bushes._

_“Sting?”_

_“Behind. Four.”_

_Emi nodded before moving the merchant in between the two. Emi faced the back as Sting stood in the front, backs facing one another._

_“Fury Bolt!”_

_The forest was struck by a huge bolt of lightning, setting fire to multiple trees. She then rushed towards the fire and used her Water Roar to cause a layer of smoke. Sting pulled the merchant closer to him as Emi moved._

_“Aren’t you going to help her?” Oli inquired._

_“We’re taking turns. Don’t worry about her. She can handle herself.”_

_“Fluctus Impulsa!”_

_A burst of lightning was aimed towards the bandits once she found them. One of the bandits was able to escape and rushed towards the merchant. Sting smirked at him before striking him with the White Dragon Claw, successfully immobilizing him. Emi caught up with him as he was frozen and kicked him in the stomach, making him fly backwards and hit the rest of the bandits._

_“Who knew they would strike this early in the night,” Emi stated as she clapped her hands clean._

_“You went overboard again,” Sting laughed._

_Emi pouted before saying that they should continue on before more bandits ambush them._

_“Man this sure is boring,” Sting moaned after an hour._

_“That’s better than Mister Oli being in danger.”_

_They had successfully made it through the forest and had arrived at the next town. After they completed the request, the three decided to go to an inn._

_“So tell me about yourself.”_

_“How much more could you possibly want to know? I’ve told you so much already, Sting. Why don’t you tell me about yourself instead?”_

_“Hm,” Sting thought as he sat down. “I’m a dragon slayer—”_

_“No shit.”_

_“Well what do you wanna know?”_

_Emi stayed silent for a few minutes before she spoke up._

_“Will you tell me about your dragon?”_

_Emi looked over to Sting to see he was sitting on the bed with his eyes glued to the floor. He didn’t make eye contact as he spoke._

_“What about him?”_

_“What was he like?”_

_“His name is Weisslogia and he was the white dragon. I’ve known him since I could remember. He raised me and loved me to the very end.”_

_“I’ve read books on dragons, and it says that the king of fire dragons, Igneel, suddenly disappeared on July 7, x777. Did that happen with Wiesslogia as well?”_

“No way! What book did you read that in? I want to see it!” Natsu shouted.

_“Not exactly.”_

_Emi looked at Sting confused to see that he hadn’t moved his eyes from the floor._

_“Then what happened?”_

_Emi could see the smallest shiver flow through Sting._

_“Sting?”_

_“I...killed him.”_

_“Wh-what?_

_Sting looked up with cold eyes, repeating, “I said I killed him.”_

_Emi went to argue with him, but when she looked at him closer, she saw that Sting had tears dripping onto the floor._

_“He was my dad and I fucking killed him.”_

_“Sting--”_

_“I didn’t want to. I never wanted to. But he told me I had to. That I needed to in order to make me a stronger dragon slayer. He was my only family.”_

_Emi had moved closer to him as he began speaking, and she sat on the bed next to him._

_“Sti--”_

_“Let me guess. You’re gonna start lecturing me about the power of family and how power should never stand in the way of--”_

_Emi had gently placed her hand on his cheek and turned his head so that he was facing her. She slowly pressed her lips to his and held them there, feeling his tears on her face. She slowly pulled away and pressed their foreheads together, keeping her hand on his cheek the whole time. When she opened her eyes, she saw that Sting was staring at her with wide eyes._

_“Why?” Sting eventually breathed._

_“You dad would be proud of the wizard you have become. I have no doubts in my mind that he’s watching over you and cheering you on.”_

_“Em--”_

_“You just have to keep living for him. Everybody dies at some point, but you have to fight to live for those who love you.”_

_Sting let out a small laugh before mirroring her actions and placing a hand on her cheek. Emi smiled before wiping away his tears and brought him in for a soft hug._

_“You just need to fight for him.”_

_“Sting, Lady Emiko? Why are you two still up?”_

_Emi and Sting turned to the half-asleep exceed and urged him to go back to bed. Sting tried to speak to him, but he couldn’t completely work through his tears to do it, so he ended up letting out a small croak._

_The exceed noticed his hoarse voice and flew up to him and grabbed his face, exclaiming, “Sting! Did Lady Emiko make you cry?” He then turned to Emi with a stern look on his face before crossing his arms and saying, “Lady Emiko, how could you? I thought you and Sting were--”_

_“Don’t worry little buddy.” Sting eventually soothed. “She didn’t do anything. She was helping me.”_

_Lector landed on top of Sting’s head and gently patted him and assured him that he was the strongest wizard ever, making both Emi and Sting laugh._

_“Why don’t you go back to sleep, Lector. We were just going to bed now.”_


	82. Crystal

_“So, uh, we should probably head back.”_

_Emi turned to Sting before nodding and gently waking Lector._

_“How come you’re nice with him but you whip pillows at me?” Sting complained._

_“Because you don’t get up.”_

_The three of them took the train back to Crocus, Sting almost puking several times. They had arrived and were immediately greeted by Kira._

_“I can’t believe you went on a job with those two when you could’ve gone with me.”_

_“I didn’t realize you had recovered from your hype day.”_

_“She hasn’t,” Ayame groaned. “She’s been unbearably hyper the past few days and she’s dragging me on a job.”_

_Emi looked between the two before stating that she would like to go as well. Ayame and Kira beamed and dragged her back on the train. They explained the job to Emi: they were to find a special crystal in the caves by Tuly Village._

_Once they had arrived, Kira sprinted off the train and started jumping, gaining attention from the townspeople._

_“Kira,” Ayame hissed, “please calm down. People are staring.”_

_“But it’s such a beautiful day!”_

_Emi and Ayame looked at each other before shrugging their shoulders and heading in the direction of the caves. They quickly found the crystal thanks to Ayame’s tracker gas._

_“Woah,” Ayame breathed, “look at all the crystals. They’re all so pretty.”_

_Emi and Kira agreed before Kira went to cut down the crystal they needed. Suddenly, a monster appeared, standing as tall as the thirty foot cave. It whipped its spiked tail at the three, causing a huge rumble to shake the cave and make a few crystals fall._

_“Rushing Waters!”_

_Kira knocked the monster off its front feet, but it quickly recovered and swiped at them. Ayame handed the crystal over to Emi and helped Kira._

_“Gas Summon: Poison.”_

_A purple gas surrounded the monster and brought it down so that it was laying on the ground. Kira and Ayame cheered and started walking towards the monster to get to the exit of the cave. Emi screamed for them to stop and they looked up to see that the monster was back on its feet and ready to aim another attack at them._

_“Kira, use the pressure spell!”_

_“Pressure Sphere!”_

_The monster was once again forced to the ground. The three wizards quickly exited the cave while the monster was still subdued and ran through the forest and headed back to the village. They handed the crystal over to the merchant and stopped at the Kotoko Inn._

_“We should stay here for the night. The trains probably stopped running by now.”_

_“Who would’ve known that we would spend so long in a cave,” Emi commented._

_“That thing was super gross,” Ayame continued._

_The three had stayed in the only room left that had two beds, so Kira and Emi shared a bed._

_“Look at us, Emi. We’re like, super sisters now.”_

_Emi giggled and wrapped the blankets around her._

_“You don’t take off your cloak to sleep?” Ayame asked._

_Emi stayed silent, so Kira lied for her and said that she doesn’t like sleeping without it. Emi looked at Kira and silently thanked her before quickly falling asleep._

\------------------------------------------------

_“Why are you guys training again? Haven’t you done enough this week?”_

_“Shut it, dragon boy. If anything, you should be training with her too.”_

_Sting groaned and continued to lay under his usual tree as he watched Kira and Emi spar. Emi exhausted Kira and turned to Sting to say that it was his turn._

_“No way. I don’t feel like getting my ass--”_

_“If you want me to accompany you on our date tonight, I would suggest that you do as I say and spar with me.”_

_“That’s so not fair.”_

_“I thought you were the strongest dragon slayer ever. From what I can tell, that Fairy Tail dragon slayer seems to be able to destroy a whole town. Can you do that, Sting?”_

_“Of course I can. I’m just not stupid enough to actually do that.”_

“Hey!” Natsu shouted.

“I mean,” Lucy started, “he’s not wrong.”

_“Well if you can do that then you should have no problem sparring with me.”_

_Sting huffed before walking over to her and getting ready to fight._

_“Holy Nova.”_

_“Shadow Rocket.”_

_Sting’s spell was swallowed by the shadows just as they were before. Sting huffed as he prepared his White Dragon Roar. Emi quickly cast her Iron Wall spell and blocked the attack from reaching her. Emi suddenly looked up at the sky and saw that the sun was starting to peek out of the clouds. She waited a few more seconds, waiting for the sun to fully emerge. She held her hands in the air and shouted._

_“Solar Spike!”_

_Sun rays came flying down to Sting, causing him to hiss as he started to burn. He used his Holy Ray to try to fight against the spell, but it didn’t work. He held his hands up and admitted defeat, asking her to release her spell. Emi smiled before running over to him and healing him._

_“Sorry about that,” Emi sheepishly apologized. “I forgot that it actually burns.”_

\----------------------------------

_Emi and Sting were walking through the royal gardens, as they were open for a short time. Emi pulled the dragon slayer over to a patch of chives and started telling him about them. Another patch caught his eye. He led the white haired woman over toward the blue flowers and asked her what they were._

_“Those are called Corydalis. It’s actually a pretty hard flower to maintain. It’s very picky about when it will bloom and what it needs in the soil to grow.”_

_“What one do you recommend for indoors? Lector’s been asking me to get him a plant because he’s been reading that book of yours.”_

_Emi giggled before pulling him over to a group of purple flowers._

_“I know this seems pretty cliche, but the crocus flower is a pretty great indoor plant.”_

_“A crocus flower in Crocus? Well, we better get going then.”_

_“Huh? Why? We just got here.”_

_“I have to go to the flower shop, don’t you wanna come?”_

_Emi’s eyes lit up as she quickly stood up._

_“I’ve been meaning to get another plant for my room. This will be so great!”_

_Sting chuckled as he followed her through the crowds._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all! Just a filler chapter to set up the next one. Thanks for reading!


	83. Mating Season Begins

_“Would you all just go away?” Sting snarled._

_The guildhall was quiet as they watched the extremely irritated blond. He hadn’t been talking to anyone, which was the complete opposite of how he usually was. Everyone stayed clear of him as much as they could._

_“Man, he needs to learn to get over it,” Kira complained._

_Emi asked her what she meant as she stared at Sting from across the room._

_“He does this every year. Spring comes along and he gets all grumpy.”_

_“I can hear you talking about me.”_

_“Why don’t you just go home and sulk there, asshole.”_

_“Now children, calm down. Let’s all leave the poor boy alone.”_

_Kira sighed and continued to talk to Ayame at the bar. Emi opened her book, trying to follow a hunch. She quickly scanned the pages of the book before smiling and shutting the book. She turned to Kira and Ayame and smiled smugly. She told them that she knew what was going on, causing them to push her to continue._

_“Spring is known as a dragon’s mating season. It says that dragons become irritable as they try to find another dragon to mate with, so basically--”_

_“Sting is super horny,” Kira finished with a smirk._

“Wait really? That’s why I get moody? That’s weird.”

“I agree with the Salamander. I don’t believe it.”

“Gajeel, that’s because you’re always moody.”

“I can’t believe you guys never knew that,” Laxus grunted. 

_Ayame started laughing hysterically. Emi looked over to the dragon slayer and noticed that he had slammed his head on the table. She hopped down from the bar and started to walk over to him._

_“Emi, where are you going?”_

_“Yeah don’t poke the dragon. He’s finally sleeping.”_

_Emi had arrived at the table where Sting and Lector were sitting. She stood over him for a minute before he spoke._

_“What the hell do you want? I’m busy.”_

_“I think I have something that can help, but you would have to leave the guildhall.”_

_Sting shifted his head so he could look at Emi with an incredulous look. Emi smliled before tugging on his shirt. Sting groaned as he sat up._

_“I don’t want to go anywhere.”_

_“But it’ll make you feel better.”_

_“No.”_

_Emi crossed her arms and lifted his head off the table. He looked at her, shocked by her actions._

_“You’re going.”_

_“No.”_

_Emi held one of Sting’s ears and pulled him up from the table. Sting groaned before sulking over to the guild’s entrance. Emi waved her goodbyes to her friends before dragging Sting across town._

_“Where the hell are you taking me? Can’t you tell that I’m--”_

_“Is this why you were distancing yourself last week? You didn’t want to upset me?”_

_“Why does it matter? I just want to take a na--”_

_“That’s what I’m letting you do.”_

_“Why the hell would you drag me all the way across town when I could’ve taken a nap at the guild?”_

_Emi rolled her eyes before leading him up to his apartment. She pushed him on his bed before walking over to the couch and sitting on it. She opened up her book and silently read as he looked up at her surprised._

_“What are you do--”_

_“I’m making sure you take a nap so that you will feel better.”_

_Sting stayed silent as he tried to fall asleep. However, all he could do was stare blankly up at the ceiling. He got an idea and shifted so he was looking at Emi._

_“Come take a nap with me.”_

_“No.”_

_Sting held his mouth open before whining, “Why not? I need you to--”_

_“If you’re irritable because of what I think it is, I am absolutely not staying in the same bed as you. There’s no telling what your mind would do.”_

_“I **promise** I won’t. So will you please?”_

_Emi shut her book and sat on the edge of the bed. Sting scooted closer to the wall so that Emi could lay down, holding up the blankets for her._

_“If you try anything stupid, I swear to god I’ll--”_

_Emi looked over once she heard the blond’s snoring and sweatdropped._

_“If you were going to fall asleep as soon as I came over here then I wouldn’t have come.”_

_She left the bed and sat back down on the couch. She continued to read when she heard a groan from the bed._

_“You said you were taking a nap with me.”_

_“You fell asleep before I could even lay down, so I decided to finish reading my book.”_

_Sting begged her to come back, Emi reluctantly doing so. The same thing happened - Sting fell asleep as soon as she walked over. She rolled her eyes and returned to the couch once again before hearing the dragon slayer huff again. He sat up and glared at her, but she was too focused on what she was reading._

_“Will you please just--”_

_“I’m reading something important.”_

_“You said you would--”_

_“According to this book--”_

_Sting groaned before falling back on the bed, muttering about her always reading._

_“I’m reading that book on dragons you gave me, and I was just explaining to you what I found on mating season.”_

_“I don’t care. I just want you to--”_

_“It says that during mating season, an unmated dragon becomes very irritable and moody. A mated dragon becomes aggressive and protective over their mate. This book writes about how a dragon will become calm when in close proximity to their mate, and an unmated dragon does the same with a potential mate.”_

_Sting’s face flushed as he refused to make eye contact._

“Aw,” Mira cooed, “that’s such a cute thing.”

Laxus scoffed, “Mira, that time of the year is anything but cute.”

“It’s true,” Rogue agreed. “It’s hell.”

_“Why would that matter?” Sting finally asked, trying to act indifferent._

_“I’m not saying it does. I was just assessing the situation.”_

_Sting turned so he was facing away from her, still fighting the embarrassment. He tried once again to fall asleep, but he couldn’t seem to get calm enough to be able to. Emi silently shut her book and sat on the edge of the bed, making a wave of relief immediately wash over him. He seemed to blush even more at that realization, but he didn’t turn around until she spoke again._

_“I will stay over here until you wake up again, but I am going to read my book. Is that alright?”_

\--------------------------------------------------

_“So where did you two go yesterday?” Kira slyly inquired. “We didn’t see you for the rest of the day.”_

_Sting went to snap at her before Emi held his arm and told Kira that he needed to sleep._

_“You slept the whole night, dragon boy? Talk about being lazy.”_

_“What did you just say to me?”_

_“I said you’re la--”_

_“Kira, I would suggest that you try to not aggravate each other this week. It’ll only end in a fight.”_

_“Aw. Is dragon boy too moody to hold a conversation?”_

_“Holy--”_

_“Rushing--”_

_“ **Dispel**.”_

_Both Sting’s and Kira’s spells were canceled. They both looked at Emi to see that she looked pissed._

_“What did I just tell you two? No fighting. I don’t care how irritable you are.”_

\------------------------------------------

_Emi sat down next to Sting at the guildhall. He was laying his head on the table again and she was reading her book. He had seemed to calm down and was starting to sleep when he felt Mich approach the two._

_“Emi, would you help me with--”_

_“ **Go away.** ”_

_They both looked at Sting in surprise before Emi rolled her eyes and followed Mich._

_“Does your book say how long he’ll be like this?”_

_“Haven’t you been through this every year? How long does it usually last?”_

_“Well,” Mich started, “it usually lasts about a week, but that’s already passed.”_

_Emi sighed before quickly helping Mich and returning to Sting’s side. His head snapped up, ready to yell at whoever it was, but he calmed down when he saw that it was Emi. He placed his head back down on the table as she opened her book to continue to read. After a few minutes, Emi placed her free hand on his head and started to pull her fingers through his hair._

_“Hey Emi! Did you wanna join me for that Clover Town request?” Kira yelled across the guild._

_Sting was about to yell at her to be quiet when Emi spoke up, “Sorry, Kira, but I already promised Sting that I would go on a request.”_

_The dragon slayer looked at Emi confused, not remembering him ever asking._

_Kira laughed, “Are you sure that’s a good idea? In the mood he’s in he might just destroy the whole town.”_

_“Don’t worry. I’ll make sure he doesn’t.”_


	84. A Surprise Awaits

_“Lector, I think it would be best if you stayed here for this request. It involves an animal that eats cats, and I don’t want you hurt.”_

_Lector looked horrified as he echoed, “Eats...cats?”_

_Emi nodded before explaining that the town had reported several cats that had gone missing when they wandered through the forest. Lector shivered before flying into Ursa’s arms and wishing them luck._

_“Are you going to be alright during the ride or will I have to knock you out again?”_

_Sting scoffed before aggressively sitting on the bench. The train started to move, but he didn’t look sick when Emi looked over at him. He crossed his arms and glared out the window. Emi raised her eyebrow before shrugging and opening her book. The train hit a bump and Emi looked over at the dragon slayer to see that his face was turning blue._

_“Sting, are you sure you don’t want--”_

_“I’m **fine**.” _

_He tried to play it off like he wasn’t affected, but his stomach betrayed him and he ended up sliding on the floor. Emi sighed and scooted over to where Sting was and offered to help him up, but he refused to take her hand._

_“Sting, you’re just going to feel worse the more time you stay on the floor. Please try to sit up here.”_

_He still looked away stubbornly. Emi rolled her eyes and dragged him up onto the seat before punching him in the stomach, successfully knocking the wizard unconscious._

_“This is going to be a long job,” Emi groaned. “Why did I think this would work?”_

\---------------------------------------------

_“Welcome to Oshibana Town!”_

_Emi smiled brightly at the elderly woman who greeted them at the station. Emi had dragged Sting off the train and used a water spell to splash his face and wake him up. Once he was awake, the two followed the woman to the edge of the forest._

_“As you can see, the forest animals have all disappeared. We have no idea where they went or if they’re coming back.”_

_“So what the he--”_

_Emi cut the blond off before he could snap, “We’ll do our best to defeat the creature. I’m sure that will encourage the animals to return.”_

_The woman looked to the dragon slayer with a curious look before she turned away and returned to the town._

_“You can’t be rude to people,” Emi chided. “I know you’re aggravated but we have a job to do.”_

_“I don’t remember ever asking to go on one in the first place. I always take a week off when this starts.”_

_“Your week ended a couple days ago. It’s not my fault you’re still like this.”_

_Sting mumbled under his breath, thinking that she couldn’t hear him, “Actually it is, but whatever.”_

_Emi decided to ignore his statement and continued into the forest. Sting reluctantly followed her, but stopped once his nose caught the scent of someone following them. He tried to shake it off as someone in the town, but he could tell that whoever it was was approaching the two quickly. Quicker than he could blink, a mutated snake lunged at Emi from beside her. Sting ran up to the oblivious wizard and grabbed the snake by the neck and threw it in the air before hitting it with his Holy Breath. Emi was startled by the sudden movement and looked over to see Sting growling as he stared at the snake’s corpse._

_“What was that?”_

_“An asshole snake who got what it deserved.”_

_Emi walked over to the snake to try to look at it closer when she was pulled back by Sting._

_“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”_

_“I’m trying to see what it is. It doesn’t look like a normal snake, so I wanted to see what was so strange about it.”_

_“Can’t you see that it’s dangerous? Get away from it.”_

_Emi exhaled and backed away from the mutated animal. Sting tugged her further away from it and continued on into the forest. Emi struggled to keep up as her arm was being pulled, so she planted her feet into the ground to make him stop._

_“Sting, I can walk by myself.”_

_“You’re just going to keep getting yourself in trouble.”_

_“What are you talking abo--”_

_Sting stopped walking and turned around to glare at her._

_“Your curiosity is going to kill you one day. You would think that you would be more careful given your situation, but you’re not. You’re going to get in a lot of trouble one day and I’m not helping you. I swear you’re so aggravating sometimes. Why can’t you just listen to someone else instead of doing your own thing and risk getting everyone killed?”_

_Emi stayed silent before the quietest sniffle escaped her. Sting heard it since his ears were extra sensitive during the spring and rolled his eyes._

_“Great, now you’re gonna cry the whole time. Why don’t you just go back to town and stay there so you don’t distract me. You’re willing to go touch a clearly mutated snake yet you refuse to take off your hood. Unbelievable.”_

“Can dragon slayers really get that mean during spring?” Levy questioned as she watched the memory of Emi starting to cry.

“Unfortunately,” Rogue answered.

_Emi stayed silent as she walked past Sting and continued deeper into the forest without looking back to see if he was following her. She eventually disappeared from his sight. Sting sighed before trying to catch up to her, but he couldn’t see or smell her anywhere._

“I hate this day,” Sting muttered.

_“Where the hell did she go?”_

_Emi had caught sight of another snake and quickly dodged its attack before stabbing it with her Dagger Strike spell. She picked it up once she was sure it was dead and saw that a thin purple film was covering the otherwise white snake. Emi’s eyes widened in realization. She sprinted towards the middle of the forest, killing any other mutated snakes as she went._

_“Well well. Look who we have here.”_

_“I thought I killed you,” Emi seethed._

“Holy shit. They can come back from the dead?!” Nastu screamed.

“She didn’t die, Natsu. That’s the whole problem.”

Natsu turned to Emi before shouting, “But I thought you had the scar for her death.”

_Lust laughed as she commanded a huge snake to lunge at her. Emi hissed before casting her Cloudkill spell, calling a huge poison fog to surround the Sin._

_“Oh? You think poison will affect me? How pitiful.”_

_Emi was thrown back by a sharp wind, knocking her back through five trees. She coughed as the dust began to settle._

_“Lust, I’m in a bad mood. Don’t make it worse.”_

_The Sin had cast Genesis, causing a mob of mutated animals to surround Emi. They all attacked her at the same time. Emi started her Wind Blade to knock them back enough for her to cast a stronger spell._

_“Armageddon!”_

_At Emi’s command, fire started to rain down on top of the animals and Lust. The animals burned and left piles of ash where they once stood._

_“Snake Charmer.”_

_A gigantic snake rose from underground and tried to grab at Emi’s legs. She jumped in time to escape the attack, but was grabbed by another snake and thrown back against a boulder. She slid to the ground and lay there unable to move from the force of the hit. Emi struggled to get to her feet. Just as she was standing up, another mutated snake lunged at her and pressed her back against the boulder._

_“Water...Roar!”_

_The snake was pushed back by the pressure of the water jet. It gave Emi just enough time to fully stand up again. Lust laughed maniacally as she sent three huge snakes at her. Emi summoned her Chrysaor sword and sliced through the snakes._

_“I’ve heard that you defeated my friend Gluttony with that sword. Unfortunately for you, those swords don’t work on me. My skin is as strong as dragon scales. Nothing can cut--”_

_Emi smirked before shouting, “Sword Summon: Tsuranuki.”_

_Emi rushed at Lust and managed to slice her left arm off._

_“You bitch! What is that sword?”_

_“This sword is able to slice through the scales of the Iron Dragon. It’s no surprise that it is also able to pierce your defense. After all, you are no superior to a dragon.”_

_“We’re stronger than dragons. We are stronger than Acnologia himself. How dare you suggest otherwise!”_

_“Acid Rain!”_

_Lust was stuck under the rain shower of acid that appeared over her. She started to dissolve under the acid, but she was able to send five more huge snakes at Emi, causing the white haired wizard to release the spell._

_“Crap.”_

_She was able to dodge the first three, but the other two surrounded her while she was in the air and unable to move out of the way very well. She had used her Water Roar again to knock one snake back, but the other was able to attach to her leg. Emi screamed as she felt the poison flow into her bloodstream. Just as she did with Pride, she used her Frostbite spell to slow the spread, but she was so beat up that it wasn’t as effective._

_“You’ll die here. All alone!” Lust screamed._

_The noise had caught the attention of the dragon slayer, who by that time had started to frantically look for his girlfriend. He entered the clearing to see three mutated snakes dead on the ground, as well as one snake pinned to a tree. He scanned the area and gasped when he saw another huge snake with its fangs lodged into Emi’s leg._

_“Emi!”_

_“Get back!” Emi yelled harshly._

_The dragon slayer looked closer to see the purple poison dripping from her leg. He went to move towards her when he heard a voice laughing. He turned to see a woman with burns covering her body._

_“My my, I didn’t know you traveled with some company now. What happened to the lone wolf demon slayer who shut everyone out?”_

_“Don’t...you worry. I’m going back to...that after this,” Emi forced out through the pain._

_“Emi, come on. Get up!”_

_At this point, the poison was really starting to affect her. Emi’s breath was ragged and she was struggling to keep her eyes open. Sting looked on in horror as the snake that was pinned to the tree broke free and lunged at the kneeling wizard. Something in him snapped, and a powerful white light surrounded him as white scales appeared on his arms and the sides of his face._

_“Holy Ray!”_

_The snake was knocked back again, giving Sting enough time to run over to Emi. He scooped her up and faced the Sin before growling._

_“How dare you--”_

_“Run...away. You can’t fight...her.”_

_Emi started to cough up blood, making Sting’s eyes widen at the realization that the poison was making its way through her body._

_“Emi--”_

_“What’s wrong, little boy? Are you mad that your friend is dying in your arms? How endearing.”_

_Emi started coughing again, but was able to yell at Sting once more to run. He told her that he wasn’t leaving, which made Lust smirk and send another snake their way. This time the snake was aimed at the dragon slayer, causing Emi to panic. She forced herself up once more, body swaying as she struggled to stay standing. She took in a sharp breath and gathered all her strength into another spell._

_“Di...vinity...Surge.”_

_A holy light shot out from Emi’s palms and hit Lust full force. She screamed in agony as her skin started to crack. She eventually crumbled to the ground and became a pile of dust. The snakes disappeared as well, causing Emi to breathe out a sigh of relief before she fell to the ground again._

_“Emi--”_

_She coughed up more blood and could barely catch her breath._

_“Sword...Summon: Kastane.”_

_A small dagger appeared in her hands. She took in a sharp breath before holding the sword on her leg._

_“Uh, Emi, what’re you--”_

_In one swift movement, Emi had sliced a huge line up her leg. Sting panicked and started trying to stop the bleeding, but Emi pushed him away before casting her healing spell and pulling the poison out of her bloodstream. Her spell broke after getting most of the poison out, but the bit that was left continued to affect her. She was able to stand again, so she did and started walking back towards the forest so she could get to town._

_“Emi, where are you--”_

_“Not that you would want to know, but as you can clearly see I’m in need of medical attention.”_

_“You shouldn’t be walking right now. Let me--”_

_“Why don’t you pick up snake skin over there so you can take it back to the village as proof that the creature was defeated. I’ll worry about myself.”_

_“You don’t have to. I’m here to help--”_

_“Don’t worry about me. I’ve been on my own for long enough.”_

_With that, Emi limped back towards the forest._

_“Emi--”_

_“Oh, and just so this gets through your head this time, I don’t take off my hood so things like this don’t happen. I would love to walk around with my hood down, but I don’t have that luxury until I kill all the Sins.”_

_“But you’ll--”_

_“Die once I kill them all? I know. So I guess that just shows you how much curiosity I have.”_

_“I didn’t...”_

_Emi continued making her way to the forest._

_“Emiko!”_

_“Go away.”_

_And with that Emi walked through the forest, not looking back as she made her way to the town._


	85. So Are We?

_Emi had barely made it back to Oshibana Town on her own. She had quickly found the town’s doctor after asking for directions. The doctor gave Emi an antidote and told her to get some rest at the infirmary for observation._

_“Don’t worry, doctor. I’ll be able to handle myself in a couple hours. I have a high resistance to poison.”_

_“I’m more worried about that gash on your leg, miss. It looks pretty deep.”_

_“Oh this?” Emi weakly laughed. “I’ll be able to heal that once I regain some magic energy. I actually have healing magic myself, but I used basically all my mana up defeating the creature in the forest.”_

_“I’m sure I don’t have to tell you this, but make sure to stay off the leg for a while longer while it heals. I would like to thank you for ridding the forest of the creature. Hopefully the forest will become lively once again.”_

_Emi smiled brightly before thanking the doctor one more time and leaving, poison free and leg bandaged. She groaned as she was slammed to the ground._

_“Oh no! I’m so sorry!”_

“Lucy, look. It’s you!” Natsu shouted.

Lucy smacked him before scolding him for shouting.

_“Ow.”_

_“Are you okay? I didn’t hurt you too bad, did I?”_

_Emi struggled to her feet, still weak from her encounter with Lust._

_“I’ll be fine. Thank you.”_

_Emi waved Lucy off before turning and heading to the inn where her and Sting checked in earlier. She took in a breath as she calmed herself before entering the inn. Sting was sitting right next to the door inside, so he jumped up as soon as she walked through the front door._

_“Emi--”_

_“I don’t really wish to speak with you right now. I’m injured and I just want to go to bed.”_

_“I’m not letting you sleep until I can apologize to you.”_

_Emi stayed silent. Sting took that as a sign to continue, so he stood in front of her and looked her in the eyes._

_“I don’t expect you to forgive me for how I snapped at you, but I do want you to know that I instantly regretted saying those things and that I never wanted you to ever feel bad because of me. I’m supposed to be here to protect you, but I--”_

_“Protect me? Why would you need to protect me? I can handle myself perfectly fine.”_

_Sting laughed before he continued, “I have no doubt in my mind that you can handle yourself in battle, but I mean more in an emotional way.”_

_“Emotional? Like what?”_

_“I want to be here and make sure you’re never sad. I’m here to try to prevent you from ever feeling like you need to cry.”_

_Emi stared at him for a minute before nodding and walking towards the bathroom._

_“Where are you going?”_

_“To bathe. I have dirt and blood all over me.”_

_“You weren’t listening to me at all, were you?”_

_“I was, but unless you want me to get into bed all gross, I would like to take a bath.”_

\----------------------------------------------------

_Emi walked back into the room with her wet cloak on._

_Sting laughed, “Did you seriously bathe in your cloak?”_

_“No, but I needed to wash it as well, so I did after I finished bathing myself.”_

_“Why don’t you take off the wet cloak so you don’t get sick.”_

_“I don’t wish to take off my cloak.”_

_Sting looked at her confused before asking her why. She shrugged before sitting down on the bed._

_“Emi, you’re getting the bed all wet.”_

_He stepped in front of her and crossed his arms. Emi slowly took off her hood to show her wet hair that continued to drip. Sting seemed to be in a trance as he stared at her with clouded eyes._

_“Sting?”_

_The dragon slayer gently placed a hand on Emi’s cheek and brought their lips together. She relaxed into the kiss and slowly gripped his shirt. He pulled away and looked at her with dark eyes._

“You have got to be kidding me,” Rogue snorted. “Your turn on is wet hair?”

Sting’s face became scarlet as he turned to defend himself before he realized something. Emi seemed to come to the same realization, making eye contact with each other before their eyes widened and they snapped their heads to Levy.

“Uh, Levy? How exactly do these memories play out?”

“I think just as much as you remember for a complete burst of memory.”

“Is there, um, any way to stop the memory?”

“I...don’t think so?” Levy replied hesitantly. 

“What’s wrong, kid? Embarrassed from growing up?” Cain teased.

Everyone seemed to understand at the same time because all their faces turned red. 

“Mister Cain, you’ve been here the longest,” Lucy forced out. “How do you skip a memory?”

Cain walked between Sting and Emi before wrapping his arms around their necks and pulling them in, saying that they would just have to play it out.

_Sting kissed her harder as he leaned down. Emi moved her hands from his shirt to behind her on the bed._

Everyone started talking loudly as they faced away from the memory in order to try to ignore it.

“We can go for fish later, right Happy?” Natsu shouted.

“What does everyone want to do when we get out of here?” Gray screamed.

“Hey, Levy, can I borrow that book of yours about runes?” Lucy yelled.

“Juvia wishes to see what everyone is afraid of.”

_Sting and Emi were now laying on the bed with Sting kissing Emi’s neck._

Juvia blushed and followed everyone’s lead of doing whatever she could to drown out the memory.

_“This is just a hunch,” Sting joked, “but I think you knew that the monster didn’t eat those cats.”_

_Emi giggled before holding his hand and asking him to continue._

_“Hey Em?”_

_“What?”_

_“Will you be my mate?”_

_Emi laughed before commenting, “Did you even read the book? I thought that’s what we were doing.”_

Emi and Sting stood away from everyone as they yelled. Emi was squeezing her eyes shut with a determined look on her face.

“Uh, Em? What are you doing?”

“I’m trying to force the memory to change before--”

Everyone could hear the memory continue and emit some noises that made everyone speak louder to drown it out. 

“No no no no no no. Change!”

\------------------------------------------------------------

_“Lady Emiko, Sting! I’m so glad you’re back. Everyone started to worry.”_

“Oh thank god,” Emi breathed. 

“Has the last memory passed?” Erza inquired as she began to uncover her eyes.

_“I’m sorry, Lector. We didn’t mean to make you worry.”_

_“Was it true? Did any more cats get eaten?”_

_“No Lector,” Sting assured. “We were able to rid the forest of the monster.”_

_“It’s about time you two came back,” Kira stated. “Hey dragon boy, are you done being horny yet?”_

_Sting glared at Kira and started to argue, “What did you say, Water Drain?”_

_“You heard me.”_

_“Come on guys,” Ayame pleaded. “Can we just have ten minutes of you two not arguing?”_

_Sting shrugged before walking over to the bar and ordering a drink. He happily chatted with Mich who raised his eyebrow at the calm dragon slayer._

_“Hey Emi, what on earth did you do to him?”_

_“We just went on that request in Oshibana Town.”_

_“Wait wait wait. You took a hormonal dragon slayer on an S-class job with you?”_

“That was an S-class request?” Sting asked, surprised.

Emi nodded and turned back to the memory. 

_“I mean it worked out. He just needed to blow off some steam. He should be good now.”_

_“Yeah no kidding. He acts like he just got laid.”_

_Emi laughed before heading to Master Rue’s office. She knocked on the door and entered, aiming to brief him on the mission._

_“Did everything go smoothly, child?”_

_“More or less. Some minor injuries, but nothing that couldn’t be fixed.”_

“You straight up lied to your master. That’s gutsy.”

Emi looked to Cana and stated that the injuries were minor once they were treated properly.

“I guess that’s one way of looking at it.”

_“Child?”_

_Emi looked back at the master and asked him to continue._

_“Were you faced with what you’ve been running from?”_

_“Yes. Someone who I thought had been killed ended up still being alive. That was who was in the forest.”_

_“Are you both okay?”_

_“Don’t worry, master,” Emi assured. “We took care of it.”_


	86. No Magic

_“We’re going to be late.”_

_Kira stood in front of the group as she led them to the train station. Ayame rolled her eyes before reminding her that they had left a couple hours earlier than expected. Sting groaned as he struggled to lug the supplies for the whole group, and Lector was cheering him on. Emi giggled at the familiar scene before commenting that they all did this every time before a request. Kira crossed her arms._

_“Hurry it up, Emi. We don’t have time for reminiscing.”_

_Sting decided to speak up, “She can reminisce if she wants. Who are you to tell her what to think?”_

_Emi and Kira rolled their eyes before Kira walked up to him and grabbed his cheek. Ayame and Emi laughed at the pair while Lector started yelling for Kira to stop._

_“I thought you were done being moody,” Kira wondered. “Don’t tell me you’re still not over the week. It’s been almost three weeks.”_

_Sting rubbed his cheek before going to yell at her, but Emi stood beside him and gently touched his arm. Sting seemed to relax, making Emi raise an eyebrow at him. Sting made eye contact with her before lightly blushing and looking away._

_“Hey Emi,” Ayame addressed, “what’s the job? You handed it to Mich before I got to read it.”_

_“It’s in Magnolia--”_

_“Emi! How many times do I tell you to let Fairy Tail handle Magnolia requests?” Kira yelled._

_“They specifically asked for a dragon slayer.”_

_“Fairy Tail has a dragon slayer, remember? Natsu Dragneel, the fire dragon slayer? You know, the Salamander?”_

_“Yes, but he has a habit of destroying everything.”_

“Wow Natsu, you sure have a reputation,” Mira laughed.

“Salamander scares away the people in the town so much that they outsource work,” Gajeel stated.

_“How do they even know if there’s another dragon slayer? We never hear about any others besides Natsu and Sting.” Ayame spoke._

_“There are seven.”_

_They all looked at Emi in confusion. Sting was the first one to speak up, asking how she knew that._

“Yeah, how did you know that? Are you telling me there are no more of us besides the ones we found?” Levy questioned.

_“It only makes sense if there are seven dragon slayers. The dragons disappeared July 7, x777. The seventh day of the seventh month. The amount of sevens is more than coincidental. There are seven dragon slayers. I’m sure of it. Whether they were all raised by dragons is still something I’m trying to figure out.”_

_“Dragon slayers...not raised by dragons? How’s that possi--”_

_“Magic lacrimas,” Sting spoke up. “I have a lacrima placed in me, but I was also raised by a dragon. It would make sense that there would be others that only have the lacrima, right?”_

_Emi nodded before continuing to explain the job, “The Magic Council has asked us to keep an eye on the townspeople. There has been some mysterious activity near the town’s edges, and they want someone to check it out. It’s rumored that the magic of previous wizards that took the request had been nullified, and the Council thinks that dragon slayer magic would be able to resist this nullification. They asked us because they know Natsu would bring destruction, and they would prefer if the rogue wizards be returned alive and in good health so they can question them.”_

_“Why didn’t dragon boy just take the request himself?”_

_“He would need help handling all of them. It’s most likely that it’s a group of them. We would be in charge of protecting the townspeople as Sting fought.”_

_“Um,” Ayame hesitantly inquired, “will Sting be able to fight all of them by himself?”_

_“He will have to.”_

_“Don’t you think we could at least ask for Fairy Tail’s help? Sting might not--”_

_“Are you doubting my superior magic abilities, Water Drain?”_

_“Superior? I think you’re forgetting that I beat your ass.”_

_“That was one time. I’ve won every single time before that. You don’t stand a cha--”_

_Sting was cut off by a wave of water hitting him in the face. His eyes twitched as he looked at Kira smiling smugly. Ayame sighed and continued walking, leaving them behind. Sting and Kira continued to argue before Emi grabbed their ears and stopped them._

_“Ow,” Kira hissed._

_Sting rubbed his ear once Emi let go and silently followed her lead. They had a typical ride on the train with Emi playing with Sting’s hair and Kira making fun of him. They had arrived in Magnolia and went to check into an inn before they headed out. Emi stopped walking before she turned to the group and told them that she would meet them at the church. She quickly disappeared, leaving three confused wizards and a perplexed exceed._

_“How come you’re in Magnolia but you’re not in your guildhall?” Emi asked as she stood behind the cloaked figure._

_Mystogan laughed before asking her why she was in Magnolia to begin with._

_“There’s a request for those rogues at the edge of town.”_

_“Do you know that all the wizards had their magic canceled when trying to fight them? I’ve been unable to fight against them myself.”_

_“Anyway,” Emi questioned as she ignored his statement, “how long are you going to be here?”_

_“I just left the guild and took another request, so I’ll be heading out in a couple hours.”_

_Emi nodded before waving her goodbyes to him and meeting her friends at their meeting point._

_“Where did you run off to?” Kira demanded._

_“Just visiting a friend,” Emi smoothly replied._

_The four of them quickly walked to the edge of town and started searching for the wizards. They were all on top of buildings to get a better vantage point. Ayame was the first one to spot the rogues and quickly signalled to the group. Kira and Emi jumped down while Sting hid on the roof and Ayame started to evacuate the townspeople that lived near the area._

_“Hey losers!” Kira shouted. “Ready to get your asses whipped?”_

_The rogues laughed before rushing at her. Kira tried her Sea Serpents spell, but it disappeared instantly._

_“Wow, I guess you were right, Emi.”_

_“That shouldn’t deter us. We’ll just have to use our fists.”_

_The leader of the group laughed before belittling them, “Oh? And how is a child and a girl supposed to beat us with just fighti--”_

_Emi had struck him and sent him flying back about fifty feet, much to the shock of the rest of the rogues and even Kira. She turned to the rest of the group and cracked her knuckles. She swiftly kicked another one in the gut and knocked him back and he landed right on top of the other one._

_“You’re...you’re a monster!”_

_“Is that any way to speak to a girl?”_

_Kira snuck behind one of the other rogues and kneed him in the back, forcing him to his knees before he fell unconscious._

_“Get away!” One of the remaining rogues looked at the two in pure horror as he yelled at the rest of the wizards to retreat._

_“Now Sting!”_

_“Holy Ray!”_

_White light chased the rogues and struck them all at the same time. They all fell limp. Sting jumped down from the roof and walked over to Kira and Emi._

_“You guys didn’t even need me. You had them all.”_

_“We totally kicked their asses! Emi, that was amazing. You kicked those guys into their next life.”_

_Emi giggled before high fiving Kira and giving a thumbs up to Ayame as she ran back to the group._

_“I evacuated everyone, but it looked like I didn’t really need to,” Ayame complained out of breath._

\-------------------------------------------

_“So we all heard you beat a group of wizards without even using magic,” Mich commented._

_“That’s pretty impressive,” Yuuki praised._

_“Are you kidding?” Rin scoffed. “I could’ve easily done it too.”_

_Zack laughed, “I would absolutely love to see you try.”_

_They all laughed at each other before going back to their usual thing. Emi and Kira walked over to the bar and ordered their usual drinks. Emi happily sipped her apple juice but jumped when Sting touched her shoulder from behind._

_“Don’t do that!”_

_Sting chuckled before standing beside her and holding her free hand. Emi swug her legs off the side of the chair before hopping down._

_“No PDA allowed over here, dragon boy.”_

_“I don’t have to listen to you, Sea Snake.”_

_Emi sighed before calming them both down and walking over to Lector._

_“Lady Emiko, you’ll never guess what I found while we were walking back. I picked it for you.”_

_The white haired wizard smiled as she waited for him to show her. He held out a light purple flower. She gasped as she carefully took the flower from his paws. He asked her what type of flower it was and she explained that it was a Bergenia flower._

_“This flower is super fun to watch once the weather gets cooler. It can change colors once it gets cooler out.”_

_“Can we watch it change colors?” Lector asked excitedly._

_“What’re you two talking about?” Sting interrupted._

_“Look at this flower, Sting. Lady Emiko said that it changes colors!”_

_Sting glanced at Emi before smiling and crouching down to look closer at the flower._

_“What do you guys say we go to the gardens today? It’s open and I think Lector might wanna go, right little buddy?”_

_Lector started cheering and jumping before he landed on Emi’s head and urged them to leave. The three waved their goodbyes to the guild and strolled over to the gardens. As soon as they arrived, Lector and Emi started hopping from each flower patch to the next. Sting watched on, amused._

_“Lady Emiko, tell me about this one!”_

_“Don’t touch that, Lector!”_

_Lector looked at Emi as his paws were just about to touch the flower. Emi exhaled in relief once she saw that he was safe._

_“Uh Emi? Why can’t he touch it?”_

_“That’s a Castor Bean. Its leaves and seeds are poisonous.”_

_Lector gasped as he scooted a few feet back from the plant._

_“Why the hell would they put a poisonous plant in a busy garden?” Sting shouted._

_Emi pointed to the large sign in front of the flower patch that warned that the plant was poisonous. She pointed out that Lector couldn’t read the sign, so that’s why he went to touch it. Lector flew on top of Sting’s head and asked Emi to point out some safe flowers._

_“These ones are called fennels. They’re actually edible and attract different butterflies.”_

_Lector looked at the yellow flower before asking if he could touch it. Emi giggled and told him it was safe, and he quickly flew down from Sting’s head and landed in front of the patch._

_“He looks happy.”_

_Sting chuckled, “He’s been interested in all this since you let him look at your book.”_

_“Sting, look at the flowers!”_

_The two turned to Lector to see that he was playing with one of the flowers by throwing it up in the air and catching it._

“Aw, you’re so cute!” Lucy gushed.

Lector flushed before he waved his paw in the air and defended, “You can still have fun when you’re as strong as me and Sting.”

_“Can we come back again soon?”_

_They both looked at the exceed and agreed before leading him out of the gardens and back to Sting’s apartment._

_“Sting?” Emi whispered while Lector was distracted._

_“I know. We gotta start telling everyone.”_


	87. Explanation

_“Little buddy, we have something to tell you.”_

_Lector looked up from sipping his juice box on the couch and asked them what it was. Sting asked the exceed if he liked Emi._

_“Of course I do! Lady Emiko is the strongest wizard ever besides you.”_

_Emi giggled as Sting tried to reword what he meant to say. Lector eventually got what he was trying to say, causing him to float in front of them._

_“Is Lady Emiko moving in with us?”_

_Emi’s face flushed as she looked up to Sting to see that he also looked taken back. Lector waited patiently for them to answer. When they didn’t answer, Lector pushed further. Sting had them all sit down before he revealed to Lector that they were mates._

_“What does that mean?”_

_“Uh, it’s basically means that--”_

_“Does it mean that you’re married? Did you guys get married?”_

_“I guess?” Emi and Sting responded._

_Lector cheered, “Now Lady Emiko can move in with us!”_

_“But Lector, I’m living with Kira.”_

_Lector waved his paw as he argued, “If you two are married, you have to live with each other. That’s how it works. Besides you guys have been dating for six months, so it’s time anyway.”_

_“Is that really how relationships work?” Emi asked as she stared at Sting._

_“I mean, sort of. I guess.”_

_“It is! So pack your bags, Lady Emiko. We’re having a never ending sleepover!”_

\-----------------------------------------------

_Kira and Emi were sitting in their apartment. Emi was cooking a sausage skillet while Kira sat upside down on the couch and read a magazine._

_“So Emi, how have things with you and the asshole been?”_

_“Huh?” Emi squeaked from the kitchen, knowing what her friend was getting at._

_“Oh come on. I can tell, you know.”_

_“W...What?”_

_Kira smirked before closing her magazine and jumping on Emi’s back by the stove._

_“I’ve been reading that dragon book when I see it laying around. I thought it was really weird how Sting’s moodiness lasted more than the usual week, so I looked into it and found that it only happens when dragons meet their future mate.”_

_Emi continued to stir the food without saying anything._

_“I also found it strange that he was so...happy once you came back. I put it all together and, well, I think I know but I just wanna make sure. Are you?”_

_“I swear I was going to tell you. I just wanted to wait until the right time and then we had meeting and everyone was always around and--”_

_“Easy Emi,” Kira laughed. “I’m not mad at all. But does this mean I have to be nice to him? Because I don’t think my heart could take that.”_

_They both looked at each other and started laughing hysterically before Emi turned back to the skillet. Kira groaned once she saw her add another ingredient._

_“Why do we always have to put hot sauce on everything?”_

_Emi echoed Cain’s explanation, “It builds up your tolerance to things that can weaken you. The more you eat it, the less you will react.”_

_Kira stuck out her tongue in disgust before flopping back down on the couch. They both heard a soft knock on the window, causing Kira to huff and swing the window open._

_“Can’t you come through the door like a normal person? We were having a very important conversation.”_

_“Oh cool,” Sting approved before sitting at the kitchen table. “What are we talking about?”_

_“You’re not involved in this! Oh...well you actually are.”_

_“Oh? What about me?” Sting pushed._

_Kira pointed a finger at him before saying, “We were just talking about how you two slept together and didn’t even tell me.”_

_Sting’s face turned scarlet as he tried to find words. Kira looked at him with a smug smile before sitting down across from him at the table. Emi spun around with the pan and dished out the food between the three of them._

_“You’re lucky I like Emi so much because if it was anyone else I would make sure to make your life a living hell. And believe me, I would enjoy every second of you being miserable.”_

_“Okay you two. Why don’t we just eat?”_

_Emi sat down between them and urged them to begin eating. Kira and Emi started to eat the food normally, but Sting choked as soon as he took his first bite. He started coughing as Kira laughed._

_“Is something wrong, Sting?” Emi obliviously asked._

_“Dragon boy can’t handle the heat.”_

_Sting spoke between coughs, “Shut up, Water Drain.”_

_“If you’re going to be like a bonded thing, you gotta learn how to deal with the hot sauce cooking.”_

_“Why would you do this?” Sting asked as he started chugging water._

_“To build up tolerance,” Kira stated matter-of-factly._

_“Who the hell taught you that, Emi?”_

_“My teacher. He was a fire...uh, wizard?” Emi struggled to accurately describe Cain without revealing that he was a demon in front of Kira._

_“Yeah, dragon boy. He made her eat it all the time to make her stronger.”_

_“I don’t think that’s how it works at all, but whatever.”_


	88. Moving

_“Will a bigger bed fit in here?”_

_Sting shrugged his shoulders._

_“We can fit it in somehow.”_

_Emi and Lector looked at each other before crossing their arms._

_“Sting,” Lector started, “I think we need to get a bigger apartment.”_

_“What? No way. This place is big enough for the three of us. We can make it work.”_

_“But I want my own bedroom!”_

_“What? Lector, you’ve always been fine sharing with me!”_

_Lector crossed his arms again and replied, “Well now I want my independence.”_

_Sting looked at Lector exasperated before turning to Emi._

_“Don’t tell me you’re going to start now, too.”_

_“Sting, if you really don’t want to move, I can just stay with Kira.”_

_Sting sighed before mumbling that he would start looking for a bigger apartment. Emi smiled before leaning up and kissing his cheek. The dragon slayer held both her hands and kissed her forehead._

_“You two are going to be the death of me.”_

_“Yay! I get my own room! Lady Emiko, are you going to help me decorate it?”_

_Emi giggled before nodding and giving him a fist bump._

\-----------------------------------------------

_“What about this one?”_

_“Too small,” Lector replied._

_“This?”_

_“That’s way out of our price range,” Emi pointed out._

_“This one has to be the one.”_

_Emi looked over and smiled before exclaiming, “You’re right. And it’s right next to Kira. We’ll be hallway buddies!”_

_Sting groaned before shutting down the apartment. Emi took the newspaper and started looking._

_“There’s this one. It’s a little pricey, but I think we should check it out.”_

_“And then there’s this one,” Lector pointed. “It’s right next to the fish market.”_

————————————

_“I don’t get why you have to come with us,” Sting groaned._

_“I’m Emi’s roommate until she officially moves out, which means that I need to approve of her living situation before she can move out.”_

_“That’s not how roommates work at all.”_

_Kira shrugged and said that Emi wanted her to come anyway and that he would have to deal with it. Sting rolled his eyes and followed Emi and Lector as they were humming down the hall._

_“She sure looks happy.”_

_“It’s because she’s not living with you anymore.”_

_“Will you two knock it off? You’re ruining the fun.”_

_They both looked at Emi to see that she had her hands on her hips. Lector sat on Emi’s head and crossed his arms. Sting and Kira sighed before following the pair to the apartment door. They all stepped inside and started wandering. Lector went to check out the room that would be his, Kira checked the kitchen, and Emi and Sting looked at what would be their room._

_“Damn. This room is huge,” Emi commented._

_“You think it’ll be big enough for a bigger bed?” Sting sarcastically echoed her earlier question._

_Emi giggled before turning around and facing him. She took his hand and stepped further into the room._

_“We could put the bed here and then have space for the closets here. The mirror would go here and--”_

_“Sting, Lady Emiko! My room is awesome. It’s so big!”_

_The two wizards looked at Lector before grinning. They both asked if they could see his room and he grabbed their hands and flew to the room._

_“Wow, Lector, you’re room sure is big. What would you put in here?”_

_Lector started rambling about all the ideas he had for his room._

_Emi leaned over to Sting and whispered, “I think he likes it.”_

_Sting chuckled, “You really think so? I think we might have to convince him.”_

_“Hey losers, the kitchen checks out.”_

_Emi turned to Kira and followed her to the kitchen, leaving Sting and Lector to continue exploring._

_“Are you actually considering this place?”_

_“I mean,” Emi started, “it definitely looks like we would fit here happily. The only problem would be that we would have to take more jobs to pay for it.”_

_“I approve.”_

_Emi laughed at her best friends before pulling her into a tight hug. They looked at each other and started giggling as they imagined all of the gross things Emi would have to experience while she lived with two guys._

_“If this place ends up anything like how their place looks, you need to come and kidnap me.”_

_“Em, whatcha talking about?”_

_Kira smirked, “Only about how you and Lector are disgusting and messy.”_

_Sting ignored her and turned to Emi._

_“So?”_

_“Lady Emiko, can we please pick this one?”_

_“I think this is the one,” Emi stated._

_Lector cheered loudly and Sting gave Emi’s hand a gentle squeeze._

\-------------------------------

_Sting groaned as he loaded one more box into the cart._

_“Nobody told me moving was going to be like this.”_

_“Didn’t you move into your apartment by yourself?”_

_“Lector and I didn’t have any stuff to move in. We got all of it as we needed it.”_

_“Hey losers, I brought some help,” Kira said as she led the members of Phoenix Wing._

_“Oh thank god.”_

_After about three hours, all of Sting and Lector’s stuff was packed and brought to the carriage. They started to unload the boxes to the apartment and then turned around to help Emi with her stuff. When they got to the apartment, Sting couldn’t find her anywhere._

_“Em, where are—”_

_“I’m just packing the last few things.”_

_Sting came over to look over her shoulder as she packed away a picture of a younger version of Emi and an unknown person. Sting tilted his head._

_“Who’s that?”_

_“It’s my teacher, Cain.”_

_“For some reason I never thought he’d look like that.”_

_Emi giggled before carefully placing the picture in the last box before taping it shut._

_“Well, let’s start lifting! I’ll take the heav—”_

_With a snap of Emi’s fingers, the boxes started floating. She pointed the boxes to the carriage, using her Navigate spell._

_“Em?”_

_“Hm?”_

_“Are you telling me that you could’ve used that for all my stuff instead of everyone lifting everything?”_

_“You insisted on packing up your apartment while I did mine. I asked if you wanted my help, so I don’t feel bad.”_

_“You’re cruel.”_


	89. Picnics and Scars

The memory changed again, and Emi recognized it from before. 

_“Hey, there you are.”_

_Emi turned to see Sting jogging towards her as she sat on the hill._

_“I just needed to get away from everyone. Kira and Ayame were at it again. I swear, they can be so pushy sometimes.”_

_Sting laughed as he looked down at her._

_“How did you find me? I thought I snuck away pretty well.”_

_“I could smell ya, duh.”_

_Emi laughed before laying down again and staring at the clouds._

_“Mind if I join ya?”_

_“I would be offended if you didn’t, idiot.”_

_Emi sat up and took the dragon slayer’s hands before pulling him down to the grass. They both laughed before Sting sat down and pulled Emi into his lap, hugging her from behind._

_“What do you think that one looks like?” Emi asked as she pointed to a large cloud._

_“It’s obviously a hippo riding a dragon.”_

_“I was thinking more of an ostrich walking an elephant.”_

_They looked at each other and started laughing again._

\------------------------------------------------------------

_“Hey Em? Do you, like, wanna go on a date?”_

_Emi looked up from her story with Lector to make eye contact with a nervous Sting. She started giggling as Lector glared at the dragon slayer._

_“Lady Emiko is reading me a story, Sting! Come back later.”_

_“Why do you look so nervous? We’ve been dating for over seven months.”_

_“Yeah but we don’t go on many dates.”_

_“You don’t? I thought every time you and Lady Emiko hung out were dates.”_

_“When did you want to go? We’re going on a job tomorrow.”_

_Sting sighed and continued, “And we have that meeting with Master Rue the day after...”_

_“...And then I’m going on a job with Kira…”_

_“...And I promised to go on a mission with just Lector after that…’_

_“I’m free next week!”_

_Sting grinned and shouted, “Hey, so am I!”_

_They both laughed before Sting sat down next to Emi and looked over her shoulder at the book. Lector waved his finger from his seat on Emi’s lap._

_“If you’re going to join Lady Emiko and me, you have to stay quiet. We’re reading a story.”_

Lucy gushed, “Aw, Lector, you’re so cute.”

Lector looked away from the group as he defended, “I was just interested in the story. I wanted to become smarter so I could get stronger.”

_“What are you guys reading about?”_

_Emi turned to Sting and told him that they were reading about Hansel and Gretel._

Lucy gave Lector a sly look before mocking that it would surely make him stronger. Lector blushed and flew into Emi’s arms so that she was holding him to her chest.

_Sting and Emi looked at each other for a minute before slowly inching closer to each other. Lector put a paw in between their mouths to stop them from kissing._

_“Sting! No distracting Lady Emiko. I want to listen to this story.”_

_Emi giggled before turning back to the book and continuing to read the fairytale to the exceed. Sting grumbled and muttered something under his breath. Emi gave him a quick smile, making Sting sigh and lean close to Emi so that his face was in her neck._

\------------------------------------------------------------------------

_“Boys! Let’s go. We’re going to be late.”_

_Lector walked out of his room, yawning and rubbing his eyes._

_“Lady Emiko, can we sleep in just a little longer?”_

_“I thought you wanted to go to a picnic?”_

_“But why so early? I’m tired.”_

_“I figured we could go and watch the sunrise.”_

_Emi called Sting again, but she got no response. She sighed before walking into their room to see Sting hanging off the bed and snoring softly. Emi smiled softly as she watched the sleeping dragon slayer. Emi had tried pinching, shaking and yelling at Sting before rolling her eyes. She walked out to Lector and crouched down to him._

_“Did you still want to go now? I don’t think Sting is waking up anytime soon.”_

_Lector yawned before asking to be picked up. Emi smiled and held Lector on her hip._

_“Can we go to breakfast instead? I want to have a picnic with the three of us.”_

_Emi nodded and put Lector down so he could change while she wrote a quick note for Sting and put it on the nightstand next to him. Lector slowly walked out of his room in his blue vest and grinned._

_“Can I get eggs **and** fish?”_

_Emi laughed before she promised him that he could. Lector lazily flew up and floated next to Emi as they entered the diner. Lector’s eyes lit up when his plate was put in front of him. They both finished eating and went back to the apartment. Sting was sitting on the couch when they got back. Emi slowly walked over to the couch before flicking Sting’s forehead._

_“Ow. What was that for?”_

_“You made us reschedule our picnic.”_

_“Picnic? This early? The sun’s just getting up.”_

_Lector pointed a finger at Sting before adding, “And you missed breakfast.”_

_Sting looked down in defeat before he felt Emi squeeze his shoulder. He looked up to see that she was shaking a small bag in front of her._

_“I made sure to get you something to eat.”_

\---------------------------------------------------

_“Lady Emiko!”_

_Emi turned around just in time for her to stop Lector from flying into a building wall. She gently put him down before asking what was wrong._

_“Sting hurt himself again.”_

_Emi sighed before following Lector to the guildhall. She walked through the doors to see Sting wincing in pain as he sat on the floor. Emi rushed to his side before asking what happened._

_“I was ambushed by some assholes and one of them broke my leg.”_

_“You need to stop being so reckless.”_

_Sting looked away in embarrassment before wincing again. Emi sighed and kneeled down next to him._

_“Sanatio Aqua.”_

_A faint glow shined through the water that encased Sting’s leg. Sting grinned at her when she was finished and was met with a small smile. She quickly smacked him in the head._

_“What did I tell you about being aware of your surroundings? You’re a dragon slayer. You’re supposed to have heightened senses but you choose to ignore them. You’re going to get really hurt one day and you might not make it back in time for me to heal you.”_

_Sting grinned before holding onto her arm and pulling her close. Emi rolled her eyes before smacking him again._

_“Ow!”_

_“Don’t think you can just kiss me and make me forget. I’m still going to be mad at you.”_

\-------------------------------------------------

_“So like, is this thing ever going away?” Emi asked as she pointed to the scar on her inner thigh._

_“Uh, no,” Sting stuttered before he explained, “It’s the mating mark of a dragon slayer. You have my scar, see?”_

_Sting pointed to the scar above his eye and awkwardly smiled._

_“Wait, really?” Emi asked before whipping her pants off._

_“Em! What the hell are you doing? Lector is--”_

_“Oh relax. I’m just looking at it.”_

_Emi stepped close to him and studied his scar before tilting her head to look at hers. She started giggling and slipped her pants back on._

_“We match.”_

_“Well yeah. That’s what I said.”_

_“I never knew that’s what happened.”_

_“It’s to warn other dragons or dragon slayers that you’re mated so they don’t try anything.”_

_“I thought my scent changed?”_

_“It does, but this is more of a physical mark.”_

Mira started giggling, and everyone turned to her.

“Does that mean Laxus’ mate is gonna have a lightning bolt somewhere on her body?”

Laxus scoffed and turned back to the memory.


	90. Everlue

“There seems to have been a major time skip,” Erza observed.

“Why would you think that?” Lucy questioned.

“Look, Lu. It’s spring again. It was autumn before.”

“Oh wow. I didn’t even notice.”

_“What kind of job requires you to dress up as a maid?” Sting grumbled._

_“The townspeople asked us to investigate the Everlue Mansion, and the client said that he only allows his maids into the mansion. I’m to pose as a--”_

_“Absolutely fucking not.”_

_“Sting--”_

_“What happened to always needing your cloak?”_

_“I can cast a tracking nullification spell that I recently learned. It will help cover my location and make me unrecognizable to others.”_

_“It says he likes blondes. You have white hair. Not to even mention that a maid outfit is absolutely out of the question.”_

_“Sting, this is for a job. Besides,” Emi gestured to her outfit before twirling around, “I think I look cute."_

“I have to agree, you do look super cute,” Mira commented.

“I think so too!” Natsu agreed.

“Natsu!” Lucy scolded.

_Sting let out a low growl, “That’s the main issue here, Em.”_

“Oh, we must be in mating season again.”

“It would make sense with the season change.”

_“Oh come on, Sting. It’s not that bad.”_

_“Lady Emiko looks really pretty, Sting. She’ll be sure to trick the guy!”_

_“There’s one more thing…”_

_Sting glared at her before asking, “What could possibly be more?”_

_“I would have to go in there alone.”_

_“No.”_

_“He’s definitely not going to let you in, especially if you glare at him like that.”_

_“That’s not happening.”_

“Yeah this is definitely mating season,” Rogue assured.

Sting mumbled something under his breath.

_“Listen here, you’re the one that insisted on joining me when I told you I could do this myself. Don’t get in my way of completing this. We need the money.”_

_Emi and Sting both crossed their arms as they started at each other._

_“I’m not letting you walk into some old pervert’s mansion in a short maid outfit just to see a possible issue.”_

_Emi sighed before walking over to Sting and giving him a soft hug. She shifted her head so her chin rested on his chest as she looked up to him._

_“I think I can handle myself.”_

_“I’m not worried about that. I just don’t want some random rich creep looking at you.”_

_Emi leaned up and whispered something in Sting’s ear. His face flushed a deep red before he looked away. Emi turned around and walked up to the gate before buzzing in._

_“You two need to hide somewhere on the property. We’ll need Lector to fly us out of there. Do you think you can handle carrying both of us, Lector?”_

_“That won’t be a problem at all, Lady Emiko. It’s no sweat.”_

\----------------------------

_“Hello sir, my name is Kenai and I’m here for the maid position that just opened up.”_

_“I asked for a blonde.”_

_“I can always dye my hair, sir. If that’s what you would wish.”_

_“Oh ho ho. Come right in, little lady. I like your attitude.”_

_Emi had followed Everlue into the main seating area of the first floor. They had begun the interview process when he got up to sit next to her._

_“You may not be a blonde, but there is no doubt that you are gorgeous.”_

_“Um, thank you sir. Are there certain days that you would want me to work?” Emi asked as she changed the topic of conversation._

_“I would love for you to work every day. I wouldn’t want to miss you too much.”_

_“I see. I think I would be able to do that.”_

_“Do you have any romantic relationships? It would be a shame if I needed to compete with anyone.”_

Lucy shivered, “Wow this guy is so much creepier to you. I’m so glad we got to destroy his place when we got the chance.”

_“I would be able to focus on the job completely,” Emi smoothly said as she avoided the question. “Say, are there other maids here?”_

_Everlue took her hand and led her upstairs. They passed a rather large maid with pink hair in pigtails._

_“This is my dear Virgo. She’s my best maid.”_

_Emi stared at Virgo for a few seconds before she smiled at her knowingly._

_“You're a maid,Virgo? It’s very nice to meet you.”_

_Everlue continued with his tour and led her to the library. Emi’s eyes lit up once she saw the abundance of books lining the shelves._

_“You can read as many books as you like if you live here.”_

_“Is that in the job description? I didn’t see anything about that.”_

_“Well, no, but I would be more than happy to allow you to join all of us. You would have your own room, right next to mine of course. I will even buy you another maid outfit.”_

_Emi clicked her tongue before asking about the town. She wanted to hear how he viewed the townspeople. She quickly found that he looked down on them and that he was planning on trying to control every aspect of the town until he found a book._

_“What book would that be? Why is it so important?”_

_“The book is called ‘Daybreak’ and it is of utmost importance that I get my hands on it.”_

_“Would I be able to assist you if I get the job?”_

_Everlue turned to Emi with a flirtatious look in his eyes before responding, “Dear, if you get the job, you will be able to help me in any way you want. All I ask is that you perform your duties.”_

_“I see. If you don’t mind, I would like you to meet someone. He will be the one to decide if I should be allowed to take this job from you.”_

_“Oh? And who is this?”_

_“My...brother, Koda.”_

“Gross.”

_Emi had led Everlue out to the gate where Sting and Lector were hiding. Once Sting caught Everlue with his hands around Emi’s waist, he stood right up and started to stomp over to them with a fire in his eyes._

_Emi sensed that Sting was beyond pissed and turned towards Everlue and loudly announced, “This is my **brother** , Koda.”_

_Sting stopped before glaring at her. Emi rolled her eyes and made eye contact with him before shifting her gaze upward, hinting that he should be ready to escape._

_“Say, brother, I think that I should take this job. There’s a huge library and the young master has promised that I could stay here with my own room. He even said he’d buy me another maid outfit.”_

_Sting was seething with anger as his dragon instincts kicked in. He took one more look at Everlue’s hands and saw that they were slowly moving towards Emi’s butt. He went to lunge at the man, but Emi beat him to it. As soon as she felt his hand, she used her hand and swung it back to deliver a powerful punch to the stomach. Everlue doubled over in pain. Emi signalled for Lector to drop in and scoop them up. Sting didn’t seem satisfied with the level of Everlue’s pain, so he began to make his way over to him, ready to seriously hurt him. Before he could get too far, Emi grabbed the back of Sting’s shirt and pulled him back._

_“Don’t start something that our guild will have to pay for.”_

_The three of them flew out of the property and made their way through the town. Emi had explained the situation to the person that made the request, telling them about the book that Everlue was threatening to steal. The man thanked them and sent them on their way._

_“You’re not doing something like that ever again.”_

_“No harm was done.”_

_“He had his hands all over--”_

_Emi rolled her eyes before grabbing his hand and reassuring him that she was fine and that she could handle his advances._

_“Besides, I knew that you would literally kill the guy if anything happened to me.”_

_The three walked in silence for a few minutes before Emi spoke up._

_“I got to meet a celestial spirit. She was Virgo the Maiden. Isn’t that cool?”_

“You knew she was a celestial spirit? That’s super cool.”

\----------------------------------

_“Emi! There you are. How did your last job go? I heard the client was a wicked perv.”_

_Emi looked over to see Kira with her hair pulled back with a white and gold bow. Emi smiled at the girl, rolling her eyes._

_“Kira, I think we should both be pretty sure Mr. Territorial exaggerated what actually happened. The client was just being flirtatious.”_

_Kira looked towards Emi with a sly look before whispering, “Well it is mating season.”_

_Emi’s face turned as red as fire. Kira gave Emi a huge smirk before laughing at her friend’s flustered reaction. She grabbed Emi’s hand and dragged her back to her apartment._

_“Spill it, Shorty. How bad was he?”_

_“I mean, he almost ripped the guy apart before I pulled him away. I do have to admit though, the guy was a creep.”_

_“Man, dragon slayers are so complicated. How do you deal with him?”_

_Emi laughed before brushing off her comment, saying that it wasn’t that bad._


	91. Meet the Construction Wizards!

_“Sting, come on.”_

_Sting hummed before holding Emi tighter. Emi sighed before turning around to face him. After poking his cheek, the white haired wizard echoed his hum. She whispered to him one more time before Sting lazily opened his eyes._

_“One more hour.”_

_“We have to leave for a job soon.”_

_Sting grumbled before putting his head on top of hers. Emi could feel his breathing slow, causing Emi to roll her eyes before gently hitting in the chest._

_“Sting, we have to go.”_

_Sting responded by squeezing her tighter and pulling her close. He kissed her head and slowly breathed out._

_“Thirty more minutes?”_

_Emi moved her head so that she had a little distance between the two and put her hand on his cheek._

_“Sting.”_

_“Ten more minutes?”_

_“Why are you so tired?”_

_Sting opened his eyes and gave her a cheeky grin. Emi giggled before leaning up and kissing his nose._

_“I’ll agree to ten minutes if you promise to take me to eat when we get back.”_

_“Deal.”_

_Sting had immediately closed his eyes again and drifted off to sleep. Emi could hear little feet padding down the hallway, causing her to smile._

_“Lady Emiko, Sting! You gotta get up for the job.”_

_Sting groaned before looking towards the doorway._

_“Come on, little buddy. Just a little while longer.”_

_Emi untangled herself from the dragon slayer before jumping out of bed._

_“Looks like your ten minutes is up.”_

_“It hasn’t even been a minute yet!”_

_“Sting! We need to leave soon!” Lector continued._

_“Well,” Emi laughed, “this is what you get for living with two morning people.”_

_Sting groaned once more before throwing a pillow at the girl and exceed._

\--------------------------------------------------

_Emi and Lector walked ahead of Sting as they made their way through the crowded streets._

_“Come on, Sting,” Lector called. “We’re going to be late. You slept in too much.”_

_“I’m coming, I’m coming. You know, you guys could help carry your stuff.”_

_Emi turned around and spoke over her shoulder, “But that’s what a big and strong dragon slayer is for. You’re strong enough to carry everything yourself.”_

_“That’s true, Lady Emiko. Sting is the strongest wizard ever!”_

Lucy went over to Emi and whispered, “Way to play into his ego. Very effective.”

Emi giggled at Lucy and smiled brightly. 

_The three had arrived at the train station. Emi dragged the dragon slayer onto the train and made sure to sit in an isolated area._

_“Why’re we back here?”_

_“It’s going to be a long ride, and I wanted to make sure you have room.”_

_The train started moving and Sting immediately got sick. Emi and Lector looked at each other and laughed. Lector turned his attention to the window to watch the trees, occasionally asking Emi about the different kinds. Sting had crawled onto Emi’s lap while they were looking at the trees, and Emi’s hands instinctively started to run through his hair. She looked down at Sting and found that he had fallen asleep._

_“Sting! Look at that camphor tree,” Lector yelled as they passed by a forest of trees._

_Emi laughed, “Lector, I don’t think he’s going to see--”_

_Lector interrupted her by jumping on Sting’s stomach, causing the dragon slayer to jump up in pain. He glared at the exceed before becoming sick again. Lector grabbed Sting’s hand and pointed out the window._

_“Camphor trees are the best.”_

_Sting continued to glare at the exceed before turning to Emi to see that she was smiling._

_“You did this to him,” the dragon slayer accused. “He’s never been interested in this stuff.”_

_Emi shrugged her shoulders and pulled Sting back down to her lap._

_“I think it’s cute.”_

Lucy and Cana looked over at Lector before commenting that he was the cutest thing they’ve ever seen, making the exceed turn to his side and try to act tough. 

\----------------------------------------

_“So what exactly are we doing here?” Sting asked as he looked around at the empty town._

_“We were asked to come here and help with constructing buildings. This is a new town that’s being established, so they’re working from the ground up. We’ll be in charge of building some houses, while others are going to be working on legal buildings.”_

_“Seriously? You took a job as construction workers? I don’t have any magic to do that.”_

_“But you’re strong,” Emi simply replied._

_“Welcome to Venzor Town! Well, what will be Venzor Town.”_

_The three turned to face the smiling face of an elderly man. He had introduced himself as Olbi Venzor and led them to an empty spot of the town. They were told that they would be in charge of putting together a house for four. Sting gave a side look to Emi before huffing and walking over to the pile of wood and bricks._

_“Excuse me, cloaked one, but could I ask you to help with the house over there? We need someone else for the house, and it looks like this boy has this house under control--”_

_“We haven’t even started it yet!” Sting argued._

_“I would love to help them. I’ll be right over.”_

_Sting held his mouth open before shouting, “You can’t be serious. You’re gonna leave me to do this all by myself? This was your idea.”_

_“You have Lector. Think of this as karma for getting up late.”_

_“Don’t worry, Sting,” Letcor yelled. “You’re the strongest wizard ever! You can do this no problem!”_

_Emi smiled at the pair before walking towards a small group of girls and greeting them._

_“Hello, my name is Kagura. It’s nice to meet you.”_

_Emi held her hand out to the girl before introducing herself as Po._

“Why do you use a fake name when meeting people?” Lucy asked.

“Yes, I find it rather peculiar myself.”

Emi turned to Lucy and Erza before explaining that it was to throw off anyone that was following her. 

“I can’t believe you met Miss Kagura as well,” Yukino added.

_The girls quickly finished the building with the help of Kagura’s gravity magic and Emi’s Levitate spell. Emi waved her goodbyes and returned to find that Sting had made great progress towards finishing the house. He was, however, taking a break, which meant that he was sleeping on the pile of bricks._

_“Sting?”_

_When she didn’t get a response she lightly kicked at his foot, waking him up._

_“Do you need any help? I finished with the other house.”_

_Sting held his arm out so that she could help him up and hugged her._

_“Uh, Sting?”_

_The dragon slayer continued to hold her before his head rested on her shoulder._

_“Sting, people will start staring.”_

_“I don’t care.”_

_Emi sighed before holding him by his shoulders at an arm’s length._

_“Fine, but you’re finishing this house. I’m taking my nap.”_

_“Lady Emiko, look at all the work I did!”_

_Emi looked up at Lector as he flew down from the top of the house. She saw that he had been working on the chimney and that it was basically finished. She smiled and congratulated the exceed. Emi began to cast her Levitate and Navigate spells to quickly finish the house. Sting had fallen asleep again, so she went to check for her next task. Olbi instructed her to help set up a drain system._

_“Hello there. I’m here to help you. My name is--”_

“Levy, it’s you!” Natsu shouted.

“Natsu,” Lucy reminded, “please stop yelling.”

_“It’s nice to meet you. Shall we begin?”_

\------------------------------------------------

_“You owe me big time.”_

_“What on earth are you talking about?” Emi questioned._

_“You left me to do the house by myself.”_

_“But I finished it and let you take a nap for the rest of the request,” Emi countered._

_Sting scoffed before tugging on her hand and leading them back home. He flopped on the couch as soon as they walked in the door and kicked his feet up._

_“You can’t seriously be taking another nap.”_

_“I’m just resting my eyes.”_

_“Resting your eyes my ass. Get up! You promised me you would buy me dinner.”_

_“First of all,” Sting argued, “I only promised that if you gave me an extra ten minutes of sleep this morning, and that didn’t happen. So you don’t get food.”_

_Emi rolled her eyes before sitting down next to him and pulling him so that he was laying on her lap. Lector had landed on Sting’s legs and quickly fell asleep._

_“Hey Em?”_

_Emi hummed as she continued to play with his hair. She looked down so that they made eye contact._

_“I love you.”_

_Emi leaned down and kissed his forehead before echoing his confession._

_“I love you, too.”_


	92. The New Job

_Emi, Sting and Lector approached the entrance to Margaret Town. Emi took in the sights of the way that the town was constructed by the rivers._

_“So what’s the job again?”_

_“We’re to help decipher a couple pages of a journal a wizard found.”_

_“But why are we here? They have a guild.”_

_Emi rolled her eyes before revealing that the guild was the source of the request. She explained that the guild master needed someone with knowledge of the different runes and signs that were present in the journal._

_“I get why you’re here now, but why are Lector and I here? We got up early for this and we can’t even help.”_

_“You said you wanted to come on the next job with me, so I figured we could do this one together. Besides,” Emi smiled brightly as she looked at the dragon slayer, “the town is beautiful, don’t you think? I thought it would be a great day to do this job.”_

_Sting couldn’t help but copy Emi’s smile. He took her hand and led her to what he thought was the direction of the guild. Emi looked confused before pointing in the opposite direction, saying that she thought that the guild was that way. They both stopped walking and looked around._

_“Split up?” Sting suggested._

_“Why don’t we just ask for directions?” Emi laughed._

_Sting muttered something under his breath before nodding._

_“Why do guys hate asking for directions so much? It’s just a question.”_

_Sting went to say something back, but Emi had begun to walk away from him and make her way over to the nearest person. She tapped the woman’s shoulder to gain her attention before asking which way the guild was. The woman pointed to the direction that Emi was heading originally, which earned Sting a smug look from the white haired wizard. Sting rolled his eyes before grabbing her hand and tugging her in the guild’s direction. Emi turned around and quickly thanked the woman, earning her a small wave in return. The three of them stood in front of the large guildhall before Emi took a deep breath._

_“You okay, Em?”_

_“We’re going to meet a Wizard Saint. This is so nerve wracking.”_

_“What are you so nervous about? You’re an S-class wizard!”_

_“A Wizard Saint is so much more powerful than S-class. I’m sure he could easily defeat me.”_

_“Well good thing you aren’t fighting him. You have nothing to worry about.”_

“Hey,” Gray observed, “this is where Lamia Scale is.”

Makarov nodded before continuing, “That means that she will be facing Jura.”

“I want to see Emi fight a Wizard Saint!” Natsu yelled. 

“Were you not listening at all?” Lucy asked. “The job is not fighting. It’s translating.”

_Emi took in another deep breath before slowly opening the door. They made their way over to who they assumed to be the guild master. The older woman looked up from her place at the bar and raised an eyebrow._

_“Excuse me,” Emi quietly spoke, “are you Ooba Babasaama, master of Lamia Scale?”_

_“What’s it to you, young ones? Get out of here before I spin you!”_

_The three Phoenix Wing members looked at each other in confusion._

_“...Spin us?”_

_Emi stood in front of Lector and Sting before speaking, “Master Babasaama, we are here to fulfill a request that you sent to our guild. The one for the journal translation.”_

_The master eyed the three carefully before leading them over to a table in the back. Emi gasped when she saw Jura and quickly went over to him and greeted him._

_“Mr. Jura Neekis, it’s an absolute honor to meet you. I’ve heard all about you.”_

_Jura looked down at the short figure with amusement in his eyes. They quickly shook hands before the Wizard Saint motioned to the open journal on the table._

_“We’ve been trying to decipher the writing for a couple days, but we seem to be getting nowhere. We were hoping that you would be able to help. It’s rumored that you have read more books than anyone we could’ve asked.”_

_Emi slowly nodded before she asked them to share what they had found so far. They revealed that they were able to make out a few words like “pink” and “desert.”_

_“Well, let’s get started! Do you have the books that you’ve been using?”_

_The Lamia Scale wizards handed Emi a small stack of books. Sting looked at the stack and groaned._

_“Don’t tell me you’re gonna make me read all of those.”_

_Emi tsked before handing a rather short book to the dragon slayer. He looked at it before sighing in defeat._

_“You know, you should be thankful that I gave you that book. If I was going to be mean,” Emi argued before holding up a book that was easily two feet tall, “I would be having you read this one.”_

_Sting looked at the book and gulped before quickly opening his small book and reading. Jura laughed at the pair before turning to his own book._

_“Sting, I’m bored.”_

_The Lamia Scale master heard and threatened to spin the exceed if he tried to distract the group again. Lector slunk down from Sting’s head and quietly flew over to an empty table. Emi was so focused on the book she was reading that she didn’t notice Sting walk over to her. He gently tapped her shoulder to gain her attention._

_“I think I found something.”_

_“What a coincidence. I did as well.”_

_They both shared what they had found before turning back to the journal. They were able to pick out a few more words: spirit, ram, horns._

_“What the hell is that even supposed to mean?” Sting mumbled._

_Emi stared at the journal for a second before suddenly standing up and throwing the journal in the air._

_Master Babasaama started to yell at the white haired wizard before she noticed that Emi was about to set the journal on fire._

_“WAIT!”_

_Emi turned to face the master before catching the journal in her hand. She then explained that it would be a flame that would purge the journal of magical energy._

_“Don’t worry, Master Babasaama. It will do no harm to the journal.”_

_Once she set the journal on fire, a gold sparkle surrounded it. Emi smiled before turning to the group._

_“It’s just as I thought,” Emi revealed. “This journal is from the celestial spirit world. It most likely belongs to one of the Zodiac spirits, Aries. It only makes sense. Spirit, desert, pink, horns, ram.”_

_“How did you come to that conclusion so quickly?” Jura inquired._

_“As you have said,'' Emi reminded, “It’s rumored that I have read more books than anyone you could’ve asked. I’ve read a great deal on celestial spirits and their magic, so I am able to recognize it. That golden sparkle gave it away. My fire was able to cancel any earthly magic that was influencing the barrier formed by Aries.”_

_“Why would Aries put a barrier on the journal?” Sting wondered._

_“You are not a girl, so I don’t expect you to understand the trust and feelings that women put into their journals. She most likely did it as a protection.”_

_“In other words,” Jura laughed, “Aries doesn’t want anyone to read her journal that could reveal any secrets she might’ve written down.”_

_Emi snapped her fingers in agreement before shutting the journal. She handed it back to the master before turning towards the door._

_“Are you not going to help them decipher it more?”_

_Emi faced Sting before saying that she didn’t want to pry into the Zodiac’s life._

_“Sometimes,” Emi started, “a woman’s secrets should stay secrets. Especially since we have never met her. I find it rude to continue to poke around in her life.”_

_“I agree with this cloaked fellow here,” Ooba coughed. “We don’t know how personal her journal is. I must commend you. For a young boy, you are very knowledgeable about what a woman would want.”_

_Emi huffed before saying that they would be on their way. The master stopped them to give them the reward, saying that they still helped them see exactly what the journal was. Sting took the reward and followed after Emi and Lector._

_“A young boy?”_

_“Em, you do this every time.”_

_“I would stop doing it if they would acknowledge that I am a girl.”_

_“I told you, people associate--”_

_“Cloaks with guys, I know. Is my voice not enough?”_

_Sting shrugged before tugging her near the train station._

\-----------------------------------------------

_“Lady Emiko, can we go shopping today?”_

_Emi looked up from her book and tilted her head at the exceed._

_“What would we need to go shopping for?”_

_“I wanted to get another vest, and you pick out the best ones.”_

_Emi smiled before reaching for her cloak and pulling up the hood and motioning for Lector to follow her. They had made it to the center of the city where they browsed the different vests._

_“This one?”_

_“I don’t like green.”_

_“This one?”_

_“That one is too big for me.”_

_“What about this one?”_

_Lector looked at the blue vest that Emi held in her hand. His eyes lit up and he quickly tried it on._

_“Look at that, Lady Emiko. It fits perfectly.”_

_Emi rolled her eyes before commenting that it was the same as the blue vest he already owned._

_“But this means that I’ll be able to wear the special blue vest twice as much as before!”_

_“Lector,” Emi seriously started, “you’ve been washing your vests, right?”_

_Lector looked to the side before giving a quiet “of course I am!” and turning to the vendor and buying the vest. Emi looked at the exceed unimpressed before asking the vendor for three more blue vests. Lector excitedly held the bags as they made their way back to the apartment._

_“Thank you so much, Lady Emiko! Now I have a bunch of them!”_

_“This means that you wash your clothes more often, yes?”_

_Lector nodded and continued to float by her side. Emi stopped walking when she saw the “white shop” in the corner of her eye._

_“Do you think we should get Sting something as well?”_

_Lector followed Emi’s gaze before taking her hand and pulling her over to the shop. Emi greeted the owner before picking up a couple white apples and paying for them._

\-----------------------------------------------

_“Where have you guys been?”_

_Emi and Lector skipped into the apartment before Emi took off her cloak and sat beside the dragon slayer on the couch._

_“Lady Emiko bought me more vests!”_

_“Oh did she now? That was very nice of her.”_

_Emi rolled her eyes at the two of them before she remembered something._

_“Lector,” Emi stated sternly, “I’m coming into your room in ten minutes to check it. If there’s clothes all over the floor you’ll be prohibited to eat fish for two weeks.”_

_“Yes ma’am!”_

_Lector quickly darted into his room and slammed the door._

“You guys are actually, like, a family,” Lucy stated amazed.

“What do you mean? You guys are my family as well.”

“Yeah but you guys have an actual parent-child family thing going on between you three.”

Emi and Sting shrugged their shoulders while Lector jumped between them.

_“How many did you actually buy him?”_

_“Three. He also bought one.”_

_Sting laughed before remarking, “I guess that means he has one for each day of the week.”_

_“There are seven days in a week. Lector only has five vests.”_

_“Weekends don’t count.”_

_Emi rolled her eyes before handing him the bag of white apples. Sting laughed before reaching to the side of the couch and revealing that he had also bought a bag of apples._

_Sting looked at Emi and playfully suggested, “I’ll trade you my bag of apples for your bag.”_

_Emi giggled before trading the bag of white apples for a bag of yellow ones. She smiled before her face turned serious._

_“Lector, you have three minutes!”_

_“Lady Emiko, please give me more time! I’m almost done.”_

_“You wouldn’t need more time if you kept your room clean. Three minutes.”_

_After a few minutes, Emi started to walk over to Lector’s room. Sting called out to warn Lector of her approach, causing a little squeak to be heard on the other side of the door._

_“Sting, you gotta stop her! I don’t want to be grounded!”_

_The dragon slayer stood up and wrapped an arm around Emi’s waist before pulling her back so her back was against his chest._

_“Sting,” Emi warned._

_“Oh come on, Em. Give the little guy a little longer.”_

_Emi let out a breath and leaned back. Sting’s hands rested on either side of her waist as he nuzzled his head to her neck. Sting’s ears perked up before he groaned._

_“What is it?” Emi spoke softly._

_“Hey Emi, open up! I have a job we can go on.”_

_Emi laughed at Sting’s reaction before freeing herself from his grasp and opening the front door. Kira entered the apartment before looking around._

_“Where’s dragon boy?”_

_“I’m not here,” Sting called from the kitchen._

_Emi and Kira looked at each other before rolling their eyes. They both walked into the kitchen and sat down at the table while Sting stayed by the sink and drank his glass of water. Lector came flying out of his room before landing on the counter next to Sting._

_“Lady Emiko, my room is all clean, yes.”_

_“Are you sure, Lector?”_

_The maroon exceed waved his paw as he assured her that the room was clean._

_Kira snickered, “Aw, are you making the boys clean their rooms?”_

_Sting huffed before leaning back on the counter._

_“Sting, why don’t you sit down at the table?”_

_“Yeah dragon boy. Don’t just stand there. It’s making me uncomfortable.”_

_“How could me just standing here possibly make you uncomfortable?”_

_Kira shrugged her shoulders before remarking, “Everything you do makes me uncomfortable.”_

_Sting pushed himself off the counter and stood right at Kira’s feet._

_“You wanna go, Water Drain?”_

_Kira smirked, “It would be my pleasure, dragon boy.”_

_“You won’t be fighting here. And I would suggest you put off the fight until later. Now,” Emi turned towards Kira, “what is the request?”_

_“We’ve been asked to plan a party.”_

_“Party?”_

_“It’s for the king!”_

_Lector’s ears perked up at the sound of the king._

_“No way,” the exceed shouted. “We’re going to plan the king’s party? This is so cool!”_

_“No. You two will be doing nothing because you are not invited to this job. It’s just me, Emi and Yame.”_

_“That’s not fair at all,” Sting argued._

_“No boys allowed!” Kira affirmed._


	93. Hisui

_Emi, Ayame and Kira all strolled through the busy streets of Crocus and stood in front of the royal palace._

_“I’ve never been in there before,” Emi stated as she nervously stood at the steps._

_“You have nothing to worry about, Emi. We’re just here to plan a party.”_

_Ayame agreed before adding, “It’s not like we’re in trouble. We’re here for fun.”_

_Emi slowly nodded before walking up to the guards._

_“Um, we’re here to see the king’s royal planner.”_

_“You’re not allowed in the palace with that hood on, boy.”_

_“Oh please,” another voice called from inside. “Don’t let that little girl stay outside because you’re afraid of her hood. The king specifically asked for her, so you will not stand in his way.”_

_“...Girl?”_

_Ayame and Kira smirked as they pushed their way past the guards and followed the woman through the main foyer of the palace._

_“You’ll be in charge of the decorations and food.”_

_“Of course, miss.”_

_“The king had a special request for the cloaked woman. He wishes for you to arrange the flower pieces for each table and the surrounding walls. He has given you unrestricted access to the flower gardens for inspiration, as well as an unlimited budget to the flower shops.”_

_Emi gasped before sprinting to the gardens._

_“She sure loves the flowers, doesn’t she?”_

_Ayame and Kira turned to the woman before apologizing for their friend’s sudden departure._

_“Oh no, I don’t mind at all. It’s said that the wizard in the black cloak has quite the eye for flowers.”_

_The two Phoenix Wing wizards laughed before agreeing and following the woman towards the center of the palace. She had introduced herself as Mey._

_“You two will be in charge of other decorations. His Majesty would like there to be green.”_

_The two wizards spoke in unison, “Green?”_

_“It’s a party to celebrate his daughter’s birthday. Her favorite color is green.”_

_“So do we get an unlimited budget too?” Kira joked before Ayame punched her arm._

_“You do.”_

_The two girls whipped their heads to face Mey with wide eyes._

_“Are you for real? We get to spend however much we want?”_

_Mey nodded before leading them to the ballroom and stating that this was the room where the party will take place._

_“His Majesty has also said that you three are allowed to attend the party. You are allowed to bring one guest each.”_

_Kira looked to Ayame before they both grinned and promised that it would be the best birthday ever. Emi cheered from the window, as she had heard everything. She continued to look through the garden and made mental notes of which flowers would look best. She noticed a girl sitting on the fountain. She studied the girl for a minute before realizing that it was Princess Hisui. Emi quietly approached the princess before bowing her head._

_“It’s a pleasure to meet you, princess. I have a few questions to ask you--”_

_Hisui gasped, “You’re the Cloaked Demon, aren’t you?”_

_“Um, yes, but you don’t need to be afraid. I won’t harm you.”_

_“Oh no no. I would never think that. I’ve always wanted to meet you!”_

_Emi looked at the princess with her eyebrows knit together._

_“Why would you want to--”_

_“You’re only the most powerful wizard in Crocus. Of course I would want to meet you! I’ve heard all about you and your magic. Can you really copy magic from books? I want to learn all about you.”_

_Emi laughed awkwardly before she got an idea._

_“Would you like to come pick out flowers for your decorations? We can talk as we look.”_

_Hisui wore a smile that spanned across her face and she quickly hopped up from the fountain and led Emi over to a patch of flowers._

_“Asiatic lilies? Those would look great with some snapdragons.”_

_Hisui looked at the cloaked figure in amazement._

_“So it’s really true? The most powerful wizard in all of Fiore is a genius in flowers as well?!”_

_“...In all of Fiore? I thought you said just in Crocus before.”_

_“Well it’s no question that you’re the strongest in Crocus, but I believe that you’re also stronger than anyone in Fiore. I’ve heard all about you.”_

_Emi laughed before softly replying, “I doubt that I would be able to stand a chance against some of the more powerful wizards in Fiore. The Ten Wizard Saints for example.”_

_Hisui looked down in embarrassment before lifting her head and looking at Emi with a fire in her eyes._

_“Will you give me a present for my birthday, Miss Demon?”_

_“Miss..Demon?” Emi questioned before hesitantly agreeing._

_“Will you fight a wizard for me?”_

_Emi gasped before looking at the princess to see that she was being absolutely serious._

_“Um, I don’t think I shou--”_

_“Please?” Hisui excitedly pushed._

_“Who would I even be fighting?”_

_“I was thinking maybe that dragon slayer. What was his name again…”_

_“Sting?”_

_“Oh no I wouldn’t want to make you fight your friend. I was thinking of the dragon slayer from Fairy Tail…”_

_“Um, are you really sure you want me to figh--”_

_“Natsu! That’s his name.”_

“No way,” Lucy breathed. “You two fought?”

“I don’t remember you being asked to fight for the princess,” Erza stated.

_“Oh, I don’t know about that. Fairy Tail probably doesn’t even know that we exist, so dragging Natsu all the way to Crocus would seem a little much. Maybe I can get you another present. What if I brought you--”_

_“I wish to see you fight,” Hisui stated matter-of-factly._

“Princess Hisui didn’t seem this forward when we met her,” Yukino observed. 

Lucy agreed before saying that the princess seemed so soft spoken.

_“Princess, I don’t really think me fighting would be a proper birthday present. Don’t you want to get a present?”_

_“But your present to me are the flowers. I would love to see you fight as a celebration.”_

_Emi looked off to the side before trying to distract the princess with sea lavenders. Hisui stayed quiet for a minute before speaking up again._

_“Would you fight someone from your guild then?”_

_Emi turned back to her and sighed, knowing that the princess wouldn’t give up. She silently nodded._

“Aw man, I totally would’ve fought with you. That’s not fair!” 

“Are you kidding me, Flamebrain? She’d totally kick your ass in front of the entire city.”

_“You have to promise me that you’ll agree to who I say. Promise?”_

_Emi looked at the princess, trying to figure out what she would do. She gently took the princess’s finger and promised._

_“Great! I can’t wait to see you fight Master Rue!”_

_Emi gasped before saying that she absolutely couldn’t do that._

_Hisui pointed a finger at her, “You promised!”_

_Emi looked back up at the princess to see that she was dead serious._

_“I’m not going to be the one to tell him, princess. You will have to do that yourself.”_

“You gotta fight your master?! I want to do that. Hey Gramps--”

“Natsu,” Erza said as she stared him down, “I would suggest against that.”

_Hisui’s eyes shined in excitement. She happily agreed and said that she would make her dad send an order to the guildhall._

_“Now, about the flowers…”_

_Hisui seemed to be brought back before saying, “Oh, right. I was thinking of carnations to go with the other flowers. Do you think that would work?”_

_Emi nodded before smiling and reciting the grouping that they had decided on: “Okay, so your decorations will be composed of orange roses, Asiatic lilies and Peruvian lilies, pink carnations, yellow snapdragons and purple statice.”_

_“That sounds like a very beautiful bouquet. I’m so glad my father hired you. Your skill is undoubtedly unmatched.”_

_Emi giggled before ushering the princess back inside the castle while she checked on Kira and Ayame. They seemed to be deciding between two ribbons._

_“I would go for the purple. The flowers will be mostly orange and pink, but there will be a few purple accents, so I think it would be pretty to tie it into the ribbons.”_

_“But Mey said that the princess’s favorite color is green,” Ayame fretted. “We’ve been trying to decorate this whole time and all we’ve been able to do is pick out the balloons.”_

_“I can help now that I’m here. The flowers are picked out. I just have to order them.”_

_“If you were done so quickly,” Kira scolded, “then why didn’t you come in here sooner?”_

_“I was speaking with Princess Hisui in the gardens.”_

_“You were WHAT?” Kira and Ayame screamed in unison._

_“She was out looking at the flowers when I went in. We ended up speaking and she picked out the flowers she wanted. She also made me agree to fight someone as her birthday present.”_

_“But none of them are green,” Kira pointed out._

_“I don’t think that’s the thing that you should be focusing on, Kira,” Ayame chided._

_“Oh, right. So who’s the loser that has to try to fight you?”_

_“Master.”_

_“Wait, what?”_

_“I have been asked to fight Master Rue for Princess Hisui’s birthday.”_

_“Holy shit!” Ayame exclaimed._

_“This is gonna be so cool,” Kira shouted. “I’ve always wanted to see the master fight seriously. I bet he’s gonna have to if he’s fighting you.”_

_Emi looked down sheepishly before protesting, “I don’t really know about that, Kira. The master is wicked powerful and I’m--”_

_“Only the most powerful wizard I’ve ever seen!”_

_“Princess, you shouldn’t be down here yet,” Mey yelled as she caught up to her._

_Ayame and Kira stood up straight before greeting the princess. Hisui laughed as she told them all that they didn’t have to be so formal._

_“I was heading out with your friend to get the flowers. Isn’t she the best? I’ve heard all about her and how powerful she is, so I asked her to have a battle with your master so I could see how she fights.”_

_“You’re...coming shopping with me?”_

_“I’m very sorry,” Mey apologized, “but she insisted.”_

_“I actually promised my friends that I would help them pick decorations for your party.”_

_Hisui joined the group of girls and quickly picked out which ones she wanted before standing up and clapping her hands._

_“Now that that’s done, we can go to the flower shop. Come on, miss!”_

_Emi’s hand was grabbed and pulled out of the castle. The guards took notice and stopped the pair._

_“Princess, you should really be traveling with a guard at all ti--”_

_“This wizard is capable of defeating every guard in the palace. I will be safe with her.”_

_“I can assure you that I will protect her with my life and return her safely to the palace,” Emi promised._

_The guards reluctantly let them go._

_“This is going to be so fun. I’ve never really been out of the palace by myself in so long. I’m always accompanied by a guard. Now I have company that I enjoy! And I’m traveling with my idol. How cool is that?”_

_Emi giggled before leading them to the flower shop. They quickly ordered the flowers and exited the shop. Emi told the princess that it would be best if they returned to the palace, but she was stopped when she saw the sad look in her eyes._

_“I want to hang out with you more.”_

_“Do you like ice cream?”_

_Hisui’s eyes lit up as she revealed that she loved ice cream. Emi smiled and went to take her to the stand by the palace before Hisui told her that she would like to go to a different one._

_“That’s the only ice cream stand I’m allowed to, so I was hoping that we could go to another one for a--”_

_“Change of scenery?” Emi guessed, which caused Hisui to nod. “I think I know a place. It’s a bakeshop, so it had pies and other desserts as well as ice cream. Plus, it’s on the edge of Crocus, so I guess that means we’ll have to walk through the city to get there.”_

_Hisui smiled brightly, realizing what Emi was trying to do._

_“You’re the best!”_

_The two had walked through the city and finally made it to the bakeshop. They triggered the bell as they walked in and sat down. Hisui looked at all the different desserts and finally settled on a piece of strawberry cake. Emi ordered her usual apple ice cream and hot chocolate and happily started to eat it._

_“I’ve never heard of apple ice cream before. Does it actually taste like apples?”_

_“I find it very tasty. Would you like to try a bite?”_

_Hisui nodded before taking her spoon and taking a bit out of the dish. She put it to her mouth and grimaced when she tasted it. Emi noticed her face and giggled._

_“I guess I’m the only one that likes it.”_

_Hisui had finished her cake, so she ordered a piece of apple pie to try to drown the taste out. She split the piece in half so that she could give some to Emi. The bell over the door rang again before two figures entered._

_“Lady Emiko!”_

_Sting and Lector sat down at the table and started talking without looking up._

_“Didn’t think I’d find you here. Did you finish your job?”_

_“Not exactly.”_

_Sting grabbed Emi’s fork and started to eat the pie, causing Hisui to look at him in shock._

_“What do you mean not exa--”_

_“I’m sorry to interrupt, but is that a cat with wings?” Hisui asked._

_They both looked up to her, just noticing that she was there. Lector confirmed her suspicions, which made Hisui jump back in surprise, not realizing that he could also speak. Sting looked at the girl before staring back at Emi as she gave him a look of disinterest. Sting grinned before shoving the rest of the pie in his mouth and turning to the green haired girl._

_“So who are you?”_

_“My name is--”_

_“This is Princess Hisui E. Fiore, princess of Fiore.”_

_Sting choked on his food before swallowing it all and sitting up straight and extending his hand across the table._

_“I’m sorry for the rudeness. I’m Sting.”_

_“Holy Dragon Sting?” Hisui asked excitedly._

_Sting lightly laughed before nodding. He pointed to his head at the exceed and introduced, “And this is Lector.”_

_“Why did you eat Miss Demon’s pie?”_

_“Miss Demon, huh. That has a new ring to it,” Sting snickered._

_“Oh yeah, so what actually is your name? I just realized that I don’t know it.”_

_Emi thought for a minute._

“You didn’t tell the princess a fake name, did you?” Levy asked.

_“My name is Emi.”_

_“So what’re you doing bringing the princess to the outskirts of the city? You’re not kidnapping her are you?” Sting teased._

_“She’s helping plan my party and we went to the flower shop when we decided to get ice cream.”_

_Sting laughed before taking a sip of Emi’s drink. Hisui looked on in shock and confusion._

_“Knock it off! We’re in public,” Emi scolded._

_“What’s so wrong about sharing a drink?” Sting countered._

_“Are you two…?”_

_Sting gave the princess a lopsided grin, making Hisui let out a small squeal. Emi noticed her change in demeanor and glared at Sting. He seemed to be trying to look innocent, but his eyes gave him away. She lightly smacked his arm before turning to the princess._

_Hisui started to shout, “I can’t believe--”_

_Emi quickly silenced her before telling her that they would like people to not know about their relationship. The princess covered her mouth for a second before continuing in a whisper._

_“I can’t believe the two most powerful wizards in the city are together. This is so exciting.”_

_Sting let out a chuckle as he wiggled his eyebrows at Emi. Emi huffed before standing up and telling the princess that they should be returning to the palace._

_“Sting!” Hisui suddenly shouted, successfully drawing the attention of the dragon slayer, “I am officially inviting you to my party tomorrow.”_

_“No way!” Sting shouted._

_“Lector can be my plus one so that way he can go, too,” Emi commented._

_“Lady Emiko is the best.”_

_“Actually, I guess I should invite all of Phoenix Wing. Especially since you’ll be fighting the master.”_

_“WHAT?!”_

_Sting and Lector looked at each other with open mouths before turning to face Emi and cheering, “This is gonna be so awesome. We get to go to a party in the palace and see Master Rue fight!”_


	94. Hisui's Wish

_“She didn’t pick out a single green decoration,” Kira mumbled._

_“Who cares?” Ayame chimed in. “She basically did our job for us, which means that the king can’t yell at us for picking out something she didn’t like.”_

_Emi and Hisui returned to the castle and made their way to the ballroom where the others were. The princess was quickly ushered upstairs to her room in order to pick out which dress she would be wearing._

_“I want Emi to help me pick out my dress.”_

_“But princess,” Mey started, “she doesn’t wear dresses.”_

_Kira quipped, “She never takes off her cloak, so she doesn’t know the first thing about fancy dresses.”_

_“What if you all helped me? Then I would have four opinions on the dresses.”_

_Kira looked at Ayame before grinning and agreeing with the princess. Emi looked between them hesitantly before following Hisui to her room. She had so many dresses to choose from. The Phoenix Wing wizards looked on in awe as they took in the sight of the sea of dresses. They all began to quickly look through the dresses and pick out ones that the princess might want to wear._

_“What about this one?” Kira asked as she held a jade-colored dress with white beading._

_“I want to stay away from green.”_

_“Huh?” Ayame questions. “I thought green was your favorite color.”_

_Hisui laughed before saying that her father always thought her favorite color was green since she always wore it._

_“I only wear so much green because of my hair. I would much rather wear something like pink or blue.”_

_The girls nodded before turning back to the dresses. Ayame held up a dark blue halter dress with sparkles._

_“That’s a little too dark.”_

_They all started holding up dresses, all of them being turned down by the princess. They had all given up before Emi picked out a light blue dress with a sweetheart neckline covered in flower detailing._

_“Oh my gosh. That one is perfect! I completely forgot I had that one.”_

_Everyone sighed in relief before Hisui spoke up, “As a thank you to you all for your help, I would like to give you access to my wardrobe so that way you can pick out your dresses for the party.”_

_Kira and Ayame squealed in excitement, but Emi stayed silent. Everyone noticed her discomfort, and Hisui looked at her knowingly before calming her nerves._

_“Emi, I don’t want you to wear a dress. You’ll be fighting, so wearing your cloak would be enough. I want everyone to see that your master is fighting the Cloaked Demon and not some random wizard.”_

_Mey protested for a few minutes before Hisui declared it as an order, silencing Mey’s disapproval. They all said their goodbyes before Emi turned to the princess to thank her._

_“Don’t worry about it. Besides, everyone knows that the mystery is so much more fun.”_

_Emi nodded before catching up to her friends._

_“This is gonna be so cool,” Kira repeated._

_Ayame spoke to both of them, “Who are you bringing as your plus one?”_

_“I was thinking of Yuuki.”_

_Ayame nodded before revealing, “I want to bring Ursa. Emi, what about you?”_

_“Oh come on, we all know that she’s inviting that idiot.”_

_“Actually, I’m inviting Lector.”_

_“Seriously? Why not Sting?” Ayame questioned, confused._

_“The princess already personally invited him.”_

_“WHAT?”_

\-------------------------------------------------------------------

_“Why on earth would you still be wearing your cloak?” Sting asked accusingly._

_Emi shrugged as she answered, “The princess said that she would like for me to wear my cloak, as I will be fighting and she wishes to prove to the crowd that I am who I am. Mystery or whatever.”_

_Emi looked at the dragon slayer to see that he was wearing a white and blue suit. Emi giggled as he fought with the buttons on his shirt before she stood in front of him and moved his hands so she could help him. She carefully fastened each button before fixing his collar. Sting turned his head to the side as he tried to hide his flushed face._

_“How do you even know how to do this? I’ve never even heard of you being at a place where you would need to dress up.”_

_Emi spoke softly, “When I was little, my parents would bring me to these parties in our village. It would be small, but everyone dressed up. My dad could never do his buttons or tie, so my mom always helped him. I guess I was able to pick up on it from watching them so much.”_

_Sting smiled at her before holding one of her cheeks and rubbing it with his thumb._

_“I really wish I could’ve seen you in a dress tonight. You’d look perfect.”_

_Emi giggled and joked, “Oh? Are you saying I don’t right now?”_

_Sting’s cheeks burned as he quickly denied it. Emi laughed before telling Sting that she was going to take a shower._

_“Jeez. She’s gonna be the death of me.”_

_“I heard that!”_

_Sting let out a small “sorry!” before sitting on the couch and waiting for his girlfriend. He quickly dozed off until he felt a soft kick on his foot. He jolted awake to see Emi standing in front of him with her arms crossed._

_“Seriously? I was in there for ten minutes.”_

_Sting went to argue when he looked up at her. She was standing there with a towel in her hands as she patted down her hair._

“Dude, seriously? Out of all the things in the world, you get turned on by--”

“Shut it, Rogue!”

_He gulped quietly before standing up so that they were centimeters apart. Emi raised her eyebrow at the dragon slayer before moving to get her cloak. Sting gently grabbed her wrist and pulled her back so that they were in a close embrace._

_“Sting, what are you doing? I have to get ready.”_

_He buried his face into the crook of her neck and tightened his grip. Emi’s hand instinctively went to stroke his hair. Emi pulled away once he started to kiss her neck._

“We don’t have to experience this again, do we?” Lucy nervously asked.

“Juvia wishes to skip the rest of the memory if so.”

“I think we all would,” Gray agreed.

_“Sting, we’ll be late. Now hurry up and get your shoes on.”_

_“Oh come on, Em. We have a little ti--”_

_“After I just buttoned your suit? Absolutely not.”_

_“We have to wait for your hair to dry before we leave anyway.”_

_“That’s what a hair drying lacrima is for.”_

_Sting groaned before flopping back down on the couch. Emi told him to get his shoes again so that he would be ready to go. The dragon slayer kept mumbling things under his breath that Emi couldn’t make out. She rolled her eyes at his childish demeanor before going back to the bathroom to dry her hair. She walked out of the bathroom and saw that Sting was tying his shoes. She looked around the room and noticed the missing exceed._

_“Where’s Lector? He’ll be late if he doesn’t get ready soon.”_

_“He’s already ready. He went over to Ursa’s.”_

_Emi giggled before pointing out that Lector and Ursa seemed to get along pretty well._

_“Well I would hope so,” Sting retorted. “She is an Animal Taming wizard. It would only make sense that they get along.”_

_Emi hummed before walking over to the kitchen table where she left her cloak._

_“Are you sure we can’t--”_

_Emi rolled her eyes before affirming, “I’m sure. Now go.”_

_Emi pushed Sting out the door before shutting and locking it. He let out a breath as he continued to walk to the guildhall. Everyone decided to meet up there and walk together. Lector was the first one to spot the couple, and he darted into Emi’s arms. Kira and Ayame arrived soon after, followed by Mich and Rin. Yuuki and Zack came into view next._

_“Say,” Mich started, “where’s Master Rue?”_

_“He’s probably getting ready to kick Emi’s ass,” Zack chortled._

_“No way!” Kira exclaimed. “Emi will totally beat him.”_

_Rin spoke next, declaring, “Actually, I think it’ll be a tie. There’s no way either of them can get the upper hand against each other. They seem pretty well matched.”_

_“What do you say, Phoenix Wing. Wanna make a bet?” Mich spoke again._

_All members agreed instantly before placing their bets. Sting, Lector, Ayame and Kira all bet that Emi would win. Zack, Yuuki and Ursa bet that Master Rue would win. Finally, Mich and Rin bet that it would end in a tie. Mich turned to Emi, who was standing there awkwardly._

_“What do you think, Emi? Who will win?”_

_“Dude, you can’t ask the person that’s fighting,” Rin scolded._

_“Say, Emi,” Yuuki questioned, “why are you still wearing your cloak?”_

_Kira quickly explained, “The princess gave her a direct order to come in her cloak so that everyone knows that she is at the party. She told the master that he should wear comfortable clothes as well because of their fight.”_

_Everyone nodded before starting out on their journey to the palace._

\-----------------------------------------------

_“Wow,” Ursa breathed, “this is absolutely stunning.”_

_“Thanks!” Kira beamed. “Ayame and I did the decorations.”_

_“Actually,” Emi slyly remarked, “I believe the princess helped pick them out.”_

_“You’re here! The Cloaked Demon is actually here at my party. Do you know how cool that is?”_

_Everyone turned to Hisui and laughed at her enthusiasm. Emi bowed respectfully before the princess told her that she didn’t have to._

_“We set up your fight to be in the arena. This is going to be the best birthday ever!” Hisui then turned to the rest of the group and said, “I’m so glad all of you could come. This means a lot to me.”_

_Mich gave the princess a huge smile and a thumbs up before everyone split off to explore. Kira and Emi stayed near the buffet while they spoke._

_“So are you gonna dance at all or will you be hiding in the corner all night?”_

_Emi thought for a minute before saying that everyone would think it was strange for someone wearing a cloak to be dancing at such a formal place. Kira rolled her eyes before saying that she should at least dance once._

_“Even if it’s with the idiot. We all know he’s going to ask you to dance.”_

_“Actually,” Emi said as she pointed to the middle of the dance floor where Sting was dancing with Hisui, “we arranged for the princess to dance with Sting. She said she wanted to make sure that both of us had fun, so she agreed to let me be and keep an eye out for any trouble.”_

_“You two are so frustrating.”_

_Emi expressed her confusion to the purple haired wizard._

_“All of us just want to see you do something that couples do. Just once!”_

_“But we do.”_

_“Not really. I mean, you guys are supposed to be--”_

_Emi hushed Kira before she could continue. Once Kira realized that she was about to expose them, she turned her voice to a whisper._

_“You guys are supposed to be mates, which means that you should be acting all coupley all the time.”_

_“I don’t really think that’s what being mates is supposed to be like.”_

_The two were interrupted by the princess coming over to them and asking how they were doing. Emi said that it was a great party and that she was having fun. Kira got an idea and spoke to the princess._

_“We were all hoping that Emi would dance, but Sting seems to always be busy. If only there was something we could do.”_

_Emi smacked Kira on the arm, earning a titter from the water mage. Hisui’s eyes lit up, worrying Emi. She was quickly dragged to the middle of the dancefloor by the princess._

_“Um, Princess Hisui, I don’t think that--”_

_“Don’t be silly. I know that you don’t want people knowing. You’ll be dancing with me!”_

_Emi’s mouth hung open as she tried to protest._

_“Please? It’s my birthday. Plus, then people will still think you’re a guy and your cover will be further supported.”_

_Emi smiled at Hisui’s determination and held her hands. Her smile faltered once she realized something._

_“Um, I don’t know how to dance.”_

_Hisui giggled before showing her. They swayed for a couple minutes before stopping. The green haired girl thanked her for the dance before turning back to Sting. Emi started to walk into the crowds when she felt a slight touch on one of her hands. She looked down to see that Sting was discretely holding her fingers. He turned to her and gave a small smile before letting go and dancing with the princess. Emi smiled to herself before she bumped into someone. She went to apologize when she saw that it was Master Rue._

_“Well child, I hear that the children all made bets to see who would win.”_

_Emi sighed as she complained, “I swear, master, this wasn’t my idea. The princess--”_

_“Don’t worry, child. I look forward to fighting you.”_

_“You do?”_

_“There is no doubt in my mind that you are a strong wizard, but I have seen that you always hold back. I hope to see how you truly fight.”_

_“...To the death?”_

_“Okay, maybe not how you truly fight, but I look forward to seeing what you can do when you fight seriously.”_

_Emi nodded before jumping at the touch on her shoulder. She turned to see Hisui standing there with a bright smile on her face._

_“It’s time!”_

_Master Rue and Emi looked at each other before following the princess to the arena. They looked around the arena and saw that it was full of people from Crocus._

“How come we didn’t know about this?! I wanted to go!”

“Natsu, please.”

_“And now, a very special event! Master Rue of Phoenix WIng has agreed to fight none other than the Cloaked Demon!”_

_The arena erupted in cheers. Emi spun around, trying to take everything in._

_“Are you alright, child?”_

_“I’ve never fought in front of so many people. I was trained to always lure people alone and defeat them quietly so nobody notices.”_

_Emi looked up to see that Princess Hisui was seated on the royal balcony with the king and some guards. She looked down to see that Phoenix Wing was cheering from their section. Sting found her gaze and smiled before cheering. Emi smiled and turned to face her master._

_“Let’s do this.”_


	95. Fight: Emi vs Master Rue!

_“Let the battle begin! You have thirty minutes.”_

_Master Rue and Emi stood still as they studied each other. Everyone looked on confused at the pair as they didn’t move at all._

_“Come on,” a random onlooker shouted. “Fight already!”_

_Master Rue looked down to the white haired wizard before asking, “Well, should we begin? I guess they get inpatient rather quickly.”_

_Emi laughed before lunging at the master._

_“Ad Deum!”_

_A white light engulfed the arena, blinding everyone. She then cast her Thunder Missiles spell, successfully pinning the master to the ground. Everytime he tried to move, he was shocked. Master Rue’s figure seemed to disappear once hit by the lightning. Everyone became quiet. Emi scanned the area for the master before she was kicked in the back._

_“You used Astral Projection, am I right? A spell that creates an illusion in your place.”_

_Master Rue smiled and praised, “I’m impressed that you were able to figure it out so quickly.”_

_The master then cast his Galaxia Destroyer spell, sending a black beam towards the cloaked wizard. Emi jumped out of the way just in time and sighed in relief, knowing that that is a potentially fatal spell._

_“Hey master, I thought you said to not try to kill each other?”_

_“That doesn’t mean we can’t have a little fun.”_

_Emi smirked and pointed to the sky, casting Solar Spike and sending rays towards the master. He was struck by a couple, causing him to burn and hiss. He used his Ripple spell to absorb the rest of the spell._

_“Poison Rain!”_

_Drops of poison started to fall from the sky and attack Emi. She winced as it burned her. He then cast his Galaxia Destroyer again. Emi dodged the spell and started her healing spell._

_“Does she really have the balls to stop fighting and heal herself in the middle of a fight with the master?” Rin asked._

_“So,” Emi addressed the master, “your space magic mimics that of one of the celestial spirits. It seems you share a lot of spells with her.”_

_“That’s right. I’ve studied the spirit since I was little in order to copy the magic.”_

_“You’re also very gifted in Poison magic if I recall. That would make sense with that rain spell you used. However,” Emi drifted off as she held her hands above her head, “I think I can handle that. Vortex!”_

_At her command, a large cloud of purple and black formed above her head. It started spinning and sucking in whatever was near it._

_“I see. So you can use space magic as well. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.”_

_The Vortex rushed right to the master. He used his Ripple spell once more. As that spell was being absorbed, Emi cast another spell. Because Master Rue was focused on absorbing the first spell, he didn’t have time to counter her next one._

_“Globus Lumen.”_

_A whip made out of light appeared in Emi’s hands. She quickly struck the master, the whip successfully trapping his feet and hands. He struggled in its grip before trying to cast his Orbit spell to make her float and release the whip. Emi saw this and quickly countered with her Earthworm spell to unbalance him further. She started to chant her sealing spell so that she could seal all his magic power away._

_“Magia Kera--”_

_Before she could finish the incantation, the siren sounded, signalling the end of the match. Emi released her light whip spell and walked over to the master._

_“That was a great fight. I am honored that I got to battle with you.”_

_“Unbelievable,” the announcer shouted. “After a back and forth battle, it seems that time has run out. The match ends in a tie!”_

_“What?!” Kira yelled. “She totally won! She had him pinned.”_

_“Told you it would end in a tie,” Rin reminded._

_“If she would’ve had five more seconds, she would’ve sealed his magic and won hands down,” Sting countered._

_“Hey guys,” Emi shouted from the ground, “don’t get too upset. We both had a lot of fun.”_

_“My wallet isn’t having any fun right now,” Ayame groaned._

\-----------------------------------------------------

_“That was **unreal**!” Hisui screamed as she caught up to Emi. “You would’ve won if you had a little extra time. I’m so impressed.”_

_“It wouldn’t have mattered if we had extra time. In a real fight, you don’t get excuses like that. I’m grateful that I was able to challenge such a powerful wizard. It doesn’t matter to me that we ran out of time.”_

_“Emi,” Hisui continued, “you’re the strongest wizard I’ve ever seen! I mean, to be able to mimic your opponent's magic like that is so cool.”_

_“She’s a very powerful wizard. I had no doubts that it would be a great match.”_

_Emi turned to Master Rue and repeated his statement to him. She felt a tap on her shoulder, so she turned around to see Sting smiling brightly at her while holding two glasses._

_“Let’s drink to celebrate your match!”_

_Emi rolled her eyes before taking one of the glasses and walking off with him and the princess. Hisui continued to gush at Emi’s abilities. Sting chuckled before pouring the drinks._

_“She’s pretty cool, don’t ya think?”_

_“Are you kidding me? She’s way more than cool. She’s my idol!”_

_“Idol, huh? Hey Em, did ya hear that? You’re someone’s idol. Must be nice.”_

_“You’re Lector’s idol,” Emi stated simply._

_“That doesn’t count.”_

_“Why wouldn’t it?”_

_“Because he’s my best friend.”_

_“You can be friends with your idol.”_

_“Doubt it.”_

_“Well Lector seems to be doing that just fine.”_

_“I told you he doesn’t count!”_

_“Yes, he does.”_

_“How can my buddy count?”_

_“He sees you as his idol, so therefore he counts.”_

_“Uh, guys?” Hisui spoke up._

_They both turned to the princess and apologized. Hisui giggled, and Sting raised an eyebrow at her._

_“It’s just,” the princess spoke through her laughter, “you two didn’t act like a couple this whole time, and now you’re bickering like married people.”_

_Sting rubbed the back of his head before chuckling, “We don’t usually ‘act like a couple’ in public, so I guess that’s why.”_

_Emi nodded in agreement before she was pulled away by Kira._

_“What is it? The princess was speaking to me.”_

_“Yeah well we have a slight problem,” Kira confessed as she pointed to Ayame laying on the floor. “Yame’s absolutely smashed and passed out in the middle of the floor.”_

_Emi looked at the unconscious wizard and sighed before helping Kira drag her over to a corner._

_“What’s going on over here?” Zack asked. “Looks like a party.”_

_Kira explained the situation and Zack smirked before saying that he could use his Hypnosis magic to sober her up. He casted a quick spell and Ayame was back on her feet. Zack was bragging about how great of a wizard he was when Kira reminded him that Emi could’ve reversed it as well. He grumbled before walking away._

_“Emi!” Mich yelled as he ran towards her. “I need your help.”_

_Emi and Kira looked at him confused before following him. The princess was standing in front of Sting, who had a nervous look on his face._

_“What’s going on--”_

_“You see,” Mich started slyly, “the princess wants you to have one dance with everyone from the guild. And we all elected Sting to go first.”_

_“Um, I don’t think--”_

_“Please Emi? Just one dance,” Mich pleaded._

_Sting decided to speak up from behind them, “Why are you guys pushing so hard for us to dance?”_

_“Because,” Mich started before revealing that he had a twinkle in his eyes, “you two need to do something in public every once in a while.”_

“Mira and Mich are so much alike. It’s kind of scary.”

“Who knew there would be two adamant matchmakers,” Laxus grunted.

“Well I think it’s necessary,” Mira defended before hearts grew in her eyes. “Besides, how can you look at this and say that they shouldn’t dance.”

_Sting and Emi looked at Mich unimpressed before they both started to walk away._

_“Oh come on!” Mich screamed. “Why is one dance so bad?”_

_“I don’t know how to dance,” Emi said in hopes of them dropping it._

_Mich countered, “But you started to learn with Princess Hisui. And besides, it’s just Sting. He can teach you as you go.”_

_“Em, he’s not gonna let us go until we do.”_

_Emi groaned before following Sting to the dancefloor. Mich cheered and moved closer so that he could watch. Sting held her hand with one of his hands and rested his other on her waist before they started dancing._

_“This isn’t so bad, right?” Sting joked._

_Sting could feel her smirk as she spoke, “You know, everyone thinks you’re dancing with a guy.”_

_The dragon slayer blushed before looking around. He breathed out in relief once he saw that nobody was paying attention. His gaze stuck when he spotted all of Phoenix Wing huddled in one spot as they excitedly watched them dance._

_“Jeez. They’re so adamant.”_

_Emi turned around to see what he was looking at and laughed. She spotted the master and the princess staring at them as well._

_“So what do you wanna do tonight? We have the day off tomorrow.”_

_Sting thought for a moment before he wiggled his eyebrows at the white haired girl. Emi rolled her eyes before stepping on his foot._

_“Ow!”_


	96. Scaredy Cats

_Emi shifted in her sleep as she heard small feet running down the hallway. Her eyes snapped open when the door slowly creaked, revealing a small maroon exceed. Emi went to question the exceed when she heard a small sniffle. The white haired wizard slowly sat up, trying not to disturb Sting._

_“Lector,” Emi whispered, “what’s the matter? Can’t get to sleep?”_

_Lector continued to sniffle before tiptoeing over to the bed and tugging on Emi’s leg. She looked down at the shaking exceed and lifted him up so he was sitting on her lap. Lector opened his arms wide and hugged Emi tightly as he continued to cry._

_“What’s wrong, Lector?”_

_“I...had...a bad dream!”_

Everyone looked over to Lector and saw that he was trying to hide behind Emi. He started waving his paw before stating that he was strong enough to get bad dreams.

“That makes no sense,” Lucy uttered.

_“Em, what’re you doing up?” Sting groggily asked._

_His eyes drifted down to see a crying Lector. He sat up and scooted closer to the two._

_“What’s up little buddy?”_

_“He said he had a bad dream.”_

_Sting shifted so he was sitting right next to them on Emi’s side of the bed and tapped Lector’s head._

_“That shouldn’t worry you. You’re the bravest cat I know!”_

_Lector seemed to calm down a bit before looking up at the dragon slayer and asked, “You really think so?”_

_Emi and Sting smiled as they realized that it was working._

_“Of course,” Sting continued, “I know you’re the bravest and strongest cat that I’ve ever met. A little bad dream would never get you down for too long.”_

_Lector wiped his eyes before puffing out his chest and repeating that he was the bravest cat in Fiore. Sting swung his arm around Emi’s shoulders as the white haired woman started to giggle._

_“Come on buddy. I’ll tuck you in.”_

_Lector began to follow Sting back to his bedroom. Emi leaned back on the bed in a starfish position before looking at the clock and seeing that it was 2:51 in the morning. Emi started to doze off, and a few minutes later she heard Sting come back into the room._

_“You know you can’t sleep like that.”_

_“Why not? I’m rather comfortable.”_

_She could hear Sting chuckle, “You’re taking up the whole bed.”_

_“Is he okay now?”_

_“Yeah,” Sting started as she felt the bed dip, “he just dreamt of a monster coming into the guildhall.”_

_Emi hummed in acknowledgement before returning to her original sleeping position so Sting could lay down. Her back was turned to Sting, so he scooted closer to her and wrapped his arms around her before pulling her to him. Emi could feel his breath slow. They both heard little feet again._

_“Uh oh,” Sting warned._

_The door gently opened again to reveal Lector standing there with his blanket. Sting and Emi both sat up again and asked him what was wrong._

_“Nothing’s wrong,” Lector assured. “I’m here to make sure that you two don’t have any dreams.”_

_Sting looked to Emi to see that she was exhausted before saying, “Uh Lector, I think we’ll be fine.”_

_“Nonsense! I’ll be here to protect you, yes.”_

_Emi smiled in realization before calling the exceed over and lifting him on the bed._

_“Sting, Lector just wants to be here in case any of us have bad dreams so that we can be here to protect each other. Isn’t that right, Lector?”_

_“That’s right, yes.”_

_Sting seemed to eventually catch on and laid back down, telling Lector to crawl in. Lector smiled and jumped between the two wizards. Sting and Emi made eye contact with each other before they both looked down to see that Lector was fast asleep, cuddling with his blanket._

_“You’re not getting any more sleep tonight, are you?” Emi joked to Sting._

_He softly laughed before asking her the same question._

“That’s so cute!” Mira exclaimed. 

“I still stand by my claim that you guys look like a family,” Lucy remarked. 

\--------------------------------------------------

_"Damn, Em. Are you sure you’re okay? You’ve been throwing up for a couple days now.”_

“NO WAY.”

“Mira,” Laxus hissed, “calm down.”

_Sting held her hair while she leaned over the toilet. She assured him that she was fine before standing up._

_“Are you sure you’re--”_

_Emi smiled before gently tapping his arm and turning to go in the shower. Sting stood there for a second before looking back down at the toilet._

_“Ew, Em. You forgot to flush.”_

_“Are you coming or not?”_

_Sting’s ears perked up before he grinned and followed her._

“I don’t like that implication,” Erza stated as the memory began to change, “and I’m grateful that we are not seeing the full memory.”

\-----------------------------------------------

_“Do you ever wish that you could go back in time and change something?”_

_Sting looked at Emi confused before asking her to elaborate._

_“Sometimes I just wish that I didn’t decide to kill demons. Then maybe I would be able to have a peaceful life instead of having to live in fear of everything.”_

_“I would probably go back and tell Weisslogia that I would rather be a weak dragon slayer than have to kill him. Maybe he’d listen the second time around.”_

_Emi nodded before her eyes drifted off to the window again. Sting tried to read her face but couldn’t pick out the emotions hidden in her eyes._

_“Em, is something wrong?”_

_Emi tore her eyes away from the window before giving a weak and not very convincing smile to the dragon slayer._

_“Nothing’s wrong. I’m just...thinking I guess.”_

_They both stood beside each other and looked out the window. Once they heard Lector’s laughter as he played with the townspeople’s children, big smiles broke out on their faces._

_“He sure looks happy,” Emi observed._

_“There’s way more kids over in this part of the city compared to where we used to live. He likes to play with them.”_

_Emi nodded and gently moved her hand so she held his. Sting squeezed her hand before stretching and walking to the kitchen._

_“So I was thinking we'll make that grilled fish thing tonight. Whaddaya think?”_

_Emi took one more look out the window before following Sting into the kitchen and replying, “But I already took out the stuff for the noodle stir fry. We can have the fish tomorrow night.”_

_Sting shrugged and closed the fridge. They both heard the door unlock followed by little tapping on the ground. Lector ran into the kitchen and asked for a glass of water._

_“Playing hard, buddy?”_

_“You bet! There was this one kid who said that I was the fastest out of all of them. We had races and then played with the ball.”_

_Emi smiled to herself before handing the exceed a glass. He happily sipped it before placing it on the counter and turning to fly back out._

_“You’re leaving again? You must like these guys.”_

_Lector turned to Sting and admitted that the kids over at the new apartment were so much nicer than the others that he had played with. He quickly flew out of the apartment and back outside. Emi giggled at his childish enthusiasm._

_“You know, I remember when I was little and all I wanted to do was play with kids my age. I can only imagine the fun that he has.”_

_“You’re telling me that you never played when you were a kid? That’s rough.”_

_“Well, I did when I was really little. I used to play with a friend. But after that, I wasn’t really allowed to socialize with anyone. We just kind of traveled all over and trained.”_

_“I can kind of relate to that. Weisslogia and I always stayed far outside of towns to train. Of course, nothing was really, uh, after me.”_

_Emi began to speak but rushed to the bathroom before she could say anything. Sting quickly ran after her._

_“Em,” Sting urged as he helped her off the floor, “I think you should go see a doctor.”_

_“I’m...fine.”_

\--------------------------------------------

_Emi sat at the bar reading her dragon book as she drank her apple juice._

_“So,” Mich started, “have you told Sting and Lector?”_

_“I have nothing to tell them.”_

_“ **Sure** you don’t.”_

_Emi shrugged him off and continued to read._

_“Hey Emi, we have a cool job that we should go on. You up for it?”_

_Emi began to agree when Master Rue called from the second level, “Emi is not allowed on any jobs for a while.”_

_Everyone looked at the retreating master. He made no sign of elaborating, electing to return to his office in silence._

“This is happening! Oh my god this is happening,” Mira squealed.

“Mira,” Erza questioned, “what on earth are you talking about?”

Emi looked at the pair curiously before turning back to her memory. 

_“What did you do to get benched?” Kira joked as she sat down at the bar._

_“I did no such thing. I am not benched. I am simply on reserve.”_

_“Hate to say it,” Ayame chimed in, “but that’s basically the same thing.”_

_Emi chose to ignore them before turning back to her book. Kira peeked over her shoulder and asked her what she was reading, causing Emi to raise her eyebrow at her._

_“You’re never been interested in--”_

_Emi couldn’t finish her sentence as she rushed to the bathroom._

_“What’s up with her?” Ayame asked._

_Emi couldn’t respond, so Mich gave the two a knowing look before motioning behind them where Sting and Lector were opening the hall door._

_“He probably has the answer you’re looking for.”_

\-----------------------------------------------------

_Emi had left the guildhall with Lector and decided to return home. She read a book to Lector for an hour before she jumped into the shower. After, Emi went to take a nap while Lector played in his room. The front door was hastily unlocked. Emi heard running before the bedroom door was kicked open. Emi jumped at the sudden noise and quickly jumped out of bed and got into a fighting stance. She settled down once she saw that it was Sting, but crossed her arms._

_“What do you think you’re doing busting in here like that? I could’ve had a heart attack.”_

_“Is Lector here?” Sting asked as he completely ignored her._

_Emi became concerned before telling him that Lector was in his room. Sting quickly entered Lector’s room and told him that he should go play with the kids. The exceed looked at him confused before obeying and heading to the streets where the kids were playing. Emi went to ask him what was wrong when he nervously shouted._

_“Why didn’t you tell me you were pregnant?”_

_Emi blinked a few times._

_“Uh, what are you--”_

_“Kira and Mich told me at the guildhall. Is that why you’ve been throwing up lately? That’s called morning sickness right? And it comes at the early stages? Are you okay? Do you need any help with--”_

_“Sting?”_

_“And I mean I told them that I didn’t believe them but then they said that it was obvious--”_

_“Sting.”_

_“They said that you’ve been acting strange and that you left your book there and it was opened to some sort of dragon magic transfer and Mich said that it had to do with inheriting dragon magic--”_

_“ **Sting!** ”_

_Sting stopped talking before he appeared in front of her and held her shoulders._

_“Are you feeling okay? Do I have to do anything? What do I even do? Moral support? Is that what I--”_

_Emi sighed and did the only thing that she could think of that would silence him. She swiftly punched Sting in the gut, causing him to double over in pain before he fell to his knees. Emi crouched down to his level before speaking to him._

_“There’s only one reason why I didn’t tell you.”_

_Sting groaned in pain as he spoke, “What...was it?”_

_“I didn’t tell you that I was pregnant because I am, undoubtedly, not pregnant.”_

_“W...what?”_

“Aw man,” Mira muttered in defeat. 

“Mira,” Lucy quietly explained, “wouldn’t it be a little sad if she was? I mean, Sting wasn’t traveling with a kid and Emi didn’t live with a kid. So that would mean that something happened to the kid, right? Don’t you think it’s better that she wasn’t pregnant?”

“Oh. I guess you’re right.”

_“Sting, I’m not pregnant. You can relax.”_

_“Then why have you been sick? Why won’t Master Rue let you on jobs? Why were you looking at magic transfer? What about--”_

_Sting was silenced as Emi threatened, “I will strike you again if you keep rambling.”_

_They sat in silence for a moment before Emi stood and pulled Sting up._

_“I just have a bug. And the reason why I’m not allowed on any jobs right now is because I’m going on an S-class request in a few days, and I won’t be back for a while, so the master is just letting me rest before I have to leave. As for the book, I was just curious. I mean, reading books is kind of my thing, you know?”_

_Sting looked at her, as if waiting for further reassurance. Emi rolled her eyes before hugging him lightly. Sting immediately returned the hug and rested his head on top of hers. Emi giggled as she heard the sigh of relief that escaped Sting’s mouth. She decided to tease him before she would let the whole thing drop, so she broke the hug and crossed her arms._

_“Are you saying you’re happy I’m not?”_

_Sting paled before panicking, “I’m not saying that I’m happy about it, but don’t you think that--”_

_“Relax, Sting. I was joking.”_

_“So, uh, the entire guild thinks you're pregnant now because Mich couldn’t really talk quietly.”_

_Emi groaned before dragging Sting back to the guildhall so that they could silence the rumors. As they walked, Emi thought of something._

_“Why didn’t you just trust your magic?”_

_“What?”_

_“A dragon can sense when their mate is pregnant almost right away. Shouldn’t you have noticed that you didn’t sense anything?”_

_“Instincts are no match for panic.”_


	97. Scout

_“How long are you gonna be gone?”_

_“About a week. It’s not too bad.”_

_Lector and Sting waved their goodbyes as Emi boarded the train. She took in the sight of the passing trees as she waited for her six hour ride to end. She arrived in Bosco and wandered over to the palace to meet the requester, Prince Alois Xylander._

_“Thank you so much for coming. I would’ve asked someone from Bosco, but I’ve heard all about you and knew that you would be the best person to do this.”_

_Emi nodded and bowed before saying, “It is my pleasure to serve the prince. I’ll do what I can.”_

_They discussed the job before Emi set off to try to find the creature. She seemed deep in thought as she unconsciously started mumbling her thoughts._

_“The prince said that it was a vampire...but I can’t really say that I believe that. What other creature would bite and drain blood though? It’s not Vampire magic because that’s only paralysis. Maybe some type of blood magic? Or is that all for show?”_

_Emi took her post outside the palace and waited for nightfall. The guards had tried to make conversation with her as they waited, but Emi was too concentrated to pay attention to anything other than her task._

_Emi suddenly spoke, “I sense something coming this way.”_

_The guards frantically looked around, fear evident in their eyes. Emi quickly equipped her Chrysaor and scanned the area. Something in the shadows and lunged at one of the guards. Emi jumped in front of the guard and slashed at the figure. Blood leaked from what Emi assumed to be his arm._

_“You’re definitely not a vampire,” Emi stated confidently. “Vampires don’t bleed.”_

_The figure started laughing as he spoke, “Oh? Then what am I?”_

_“I found it strange that you would be draining blood from guards. I found it more strange that you didn’t go after the prince himself. Vampires would be able to slip into the castle undetected, but you elected to stay outside the castle and attack the guards.”_

_Emi was cut off by the figure swiping at her with what seemed to be a claw. The white haired woman smirked as she dodged it and tried to kick him in the stomach. Her leg phased right through his body, confirming her suspicions._

_“I see. So you aren’t human either. Very well. This means I don’t have to hold back. Now, who are you?”_

_“I am the shadow haunts your worst nightmares.”_

_Emi raised an eyebrow at the figure before sending a bright light over to him. His body seemed to break apart once the light traveled through his body._

_“Weakness for light? You don’t seem like a very frightening shadow.”_

_The figure laughed before stepping fully into the light. He was revealed to be a man with black hair and red eyes. He had a tattoo over his eye and strange markings on his stomach. Emi crossed her arms._

_“I would’ve liked to go a while without being pestered by things like you, but it seems that I’m not that fortunate. Tell me something. How would you know that I would take this job?”_

_“Well that’s simple. My master saw that it was only sent this request to your guild. He labeled it as S-class, meaning that the only an S-class wizard would take it.”_

_Emi huffed before grabbing the man by his neck. He squirmed a bit before his eyes started glowing. Emi took her sword and sliced his eyes, stopping whatever spell he planned to use._

_“You bitch!”_

_“I’ve been called worse. Now, are you ready to die? Don’t worry. I promise that it won’t be too painful.”_

_“I may not be able to see, daughter of Cain, but I can still sens--”_

_The man folded over in pain as he was kicked in the stomach._

_“How could you--”_

_“Well that’s simple,” Emi echoed. “You can’t see to activate your shadows, so you’re unable to disappear. I’ve read a lot about shadow magic. It’s mainly on the shadow dragons, which means that a lowly demon servant wouldn’t compare against that type of magic. You might be strong, but you’re going against someone trained to kill demons. I wouldn’t press your luck.”_

_“They’ll find you. You’ll die painfully.”_

_“Who sent you?”_

_“You’ll die and he’ll take everything you hold dear--”_

_Emi lifted the man off the ground and held his neck again. She started to tighten her grip, the man struggling for breath._

_“I’ll ask you again. Which one sent you?”_

_“Wr...wrath.”_

_Emi’s eyes widened as she quickly dropped the man. He started coughing and choking for air. Emi put a foot on his head and pressed him to the ground._

_“How much does he know?” Emi growled._

_“He...knows you’re in...Fiore still. He’s been getting closer...to finding you. He’s...sent others to look for you.”_

_“How many were sent?”_

_“I don...don’t know.”_

_Emi huffed before she grabbed the man by the head and lifted him up._

_“Immolate.”_

_“Wait! Please don--”_

_The man was interrupted by his own screams as fire surrounded his body. He fell limp to the ground as he continued to burn. Emi looked at his body with cold eyes as she watched him turn to ash. She let out a frustrated scream as she pulled on her hood._

_“I’m so fucked.”_

\------------------------------------------------------------

_“How on earth are you already back? Master said you’d be gone for like two weeks.”_

_Emi sat down at the bar before addressing Ayame, “The job was easier than the requester thought, so I was able to finish rather quickly.”_

_Sting and Lector walked into the guildhall and sat at a table in the back, completely oblivious that Emi had returned. Everyone sweatdropped before Mich brought her return to their attention. The two quickly looked towards the bar and had big grins on their faces. Lector flew onto Emi’s head while Sting sat down next to her and gave her a side hug._

_“You’re back awfully early,” Sting beamed._

_“Welcome back Lady Emiko!”_

_“So whaddya wanna do now that you’re back?”_

_“I need to talk to you.”_

_Everyone looked at her confused before Sting recovered and tugged her hand, saying, “Well let’s go then!”_

_Emi stopped walking and blurted, “It needs to be without Lector.”_

_Sting tilted his head and Lector kept asking why he couldn’t come. Emi asked Ursa to watch Lector while she hand Sting left to talk. Before they completely left the hall, Emi heard the start of the conversation._

_“Are they breaking up?” Yuuki wondered._

_“No way,” Rin argued. “They're definitely having sex.”_

_Emi rolled her eyes as she tugged Sting to their apartment. Once they shut the front door, they stood in silence._

_“So, uh,” Sting started hesitantly, “what’s up?”_

_“I don’t want you or anyone to get hurt.”_

_“Did something happen while you were on the job?”_

_“A scout was sent to find me. And he did.”_

_Sting could see that she wouldn’t make eye contact, so he asked her what that would mean._

_“It was Wrath who sent him. I was able to deal with the scout, but now I don’t know how much he knows. I can’t let him find where I am and I…”_

_Sting looked down and saw that she had started shaking._

_“Hey, come here,” Sting whispered as he brought her in for a hug._

_“I can’t let him find me. This is Wrath, the most powerful of the Book of Zeref. He can easily take out Acnilogia by himself. Not to mention that he usually travels with Sloth, the second most powerful. If they find out where I am and attack together--”_

_“You’ll be okay,” Sting soothed._

_“I don’t care if I’ll be okay. I am worried about all of you. I know how that demon works. He takes joy in torturing his victims before he kills them. I can’t let that happen…”_

Everyone could see that tears were dripping down Emi’s face, but she stayed silent as she watched the memory. 

_“Don’t you worry about us. We might not be as strong as you, but we’re pretty tough.”_

_Emi sighed before pulling away from the hug. She looked up and saw that Sting was looking at her with a soft smile._

_“We’ll be okay.”_

_Emi copied his smile before squeezing his hand and repeating his statement, “We’ll be okay.”_

_They stayed like that for about ten minutes before Sting spoke up._

_“So, uh, about that sex thing…”_

_Emi quickly smacked his arm before going into the kitchen._


	98. Gas Summon: Truth

_“So Miss S-class, do you think you’re up to go on a lowly C-class request?”_

_Emi looked behind her to see that Kira and Ayame were standing there, Kira with a smirk on her face._

_“When do we leave?”_

_“Alright! It’s been so long since we all went on a job together!”_

_Emi laughed before apologizing, saying that she needed to take more S-class jobs lately because the apartment was a little expensive. Ayame waved it off and dragged Emi to the train station. Sting and Lector were sitting on the bench in front of the train taking a nap. Kira rolled her eyes before kicking the bench and startling Sting awake._

_“Let’s go dragon boy. You can sleep on the train.”_

_Sting grumbled before he noticed Emi standing there. A bright smile made its way on his face as he grabbed her hand and led her onto the train. His excitement immediately disappeared as soon as the train started moving._

_He was eventually able to spit out a few words, “I’m really...glad you came.”_

_Emi waved Sting over and he nuzzled his head into her neck. He was calm for a few seconds before the train jolted. HIs whole face turned blue as he slipped down. Kira scoffed before she pointed at his figure laying on the floor._

_“Have you found out why dragon slayers get like this? It’s super annoying.”_

_Emi pulled Sting off the floor and laid his head in her lap before answering, “It has something to do with dragon senses and human senses interacting. The equilibrium is thrown off when in motion.”_

_“But he’s moving when Lector flies him around.”_

_Emi shrugged, “I guess it’s more mind over matter. Lector isn’t transportation to him. He’s family.”_

“That actually makes a lot of sense,” Gajeel stated.

“Makes no sense to me!” Natsu shouted.

“That’s because you don’t have any sense at all!” Gajeel countered. 

_“He’s an idiot,” Kira declared._

_Emi giggled, “I’m not denying that.”_

“Hey!”

Emi laughed at Sting’s shocked face and gave a lopsided smile. 

\-------------------------------------------

_“What’s the job about?”_

_Ayame turned around and raised an eyebrow before asking, “Why do you always come on jobs if you don’t even know what they’re about?”_

_Kira laughed and explained, “She just likes coming to hang out with us because she gets bored on her lonely S-class jobs.”_

_“It’s true. I do enjoy your company.”_

_“Anyway,” Ayame continued, “Desmund Sivolt of Sawyer Town put in a request to recover some heirlooms that a group of bandits stole from him a couple days ago. Apparently they were posing as travelers and asked for a place to stay and then robbed them.”_

_“Perfect reason why I don’t help people.”_

_Sting scoffed, “You don’t help people because you’re mean.”_

_“What was that, asshole?”_

_“I said--”_

_“I heard what you said. Care to defend it?”_

_Ayame and Emi both sighed before walking away from the bickering pair._

_“Will they ever learn to get along?”_

_Emi pointed to the still arguing wizards and declared, “I highly doubt it.”_

_They both laughed before Emi called for them to catch up. Sting wrapped his arm over Emi’s shoulders before Kira pulled Emi away from him._

_“No way, dragon boy. She’s mine today.”_

_Sting growled, “Go away, Water Drain.”_

_“Oh, I know you didn’t just--”_

_“Ice Make: Prison!”_

_Both Kira and Sting were trapped in their own separate cage made of ice. They looked up in confusion before glaring at Emi._

_“Let me out,” they both demanded in unison._

_“I will only release the spell if you promise not to fight for the rest of the job.”_

_Kira huffed and melted the ice with her water magic. She clapped her hands and caught up to Emi and Ayame._

_“Hey, let me out.”_

_Kira turned to Sting and teased, “Oh, but the ‘strongest wizard ever’ should be able to get out of one cage, don’t you think?”_

_Ayame let out a frustrated click, “Can you two please stop arguing? I want this job to be fun.”_

_“Sting,” Emi started, “wouldn’t you like to enjoy the town? Look at the flowers.”_

_Sting put his hands up in defeat. Emi gave a small smile and released the spell. Sting jogged to catch up to the group and started to link his fingers with Emi’s when she pulled away slightly. The dragon slayer looked shocked before he saw that a couple people were looking at them. He sighed before his usual grin returned._

_“Whoops. I forgot.”_

\-----------------------------------------------

_“Let’s do this, losers.”_

_“We don’t even know where they--”_

_Sting interrupted Ayame, “I smell four people close by.”_

_“Do they give off magic energy?” Emi inquired._

_“Not from what I can tell.”_

_“Alright,” Kira declared, “let’s be careful in case they’re just townspeople. Yame?”_

_Ayame nodded and prepared a gas. They all creeped closer and saw that four people were sitting around a fire. They quickly spotted the bags that contained the various heirlooms. Emi signed for Ayame to release her gas. She stepped by the figures, causing them to stand up._

_“What do you thi--”_

_“Gas Summon: Truth!”_

_A teal gas engulfed the bandits. Kira revealed herself next and crossed her arms._

_“Why did you steal the heirlooms?”_

_“They looked expensive.”_

_Ayame rolled her eyes and pressed, “What made you want to trick them?”_

_“They looked like they were rich.”_

_Sting told them that they should give them back the heirlooms and they started to laugh maniacally._

_“Let’s just get them settled,” Emi seriously remarked._

_“Wait!”_

_They all turned to the bandits and asked them what they wanted. Who everyone assumed to be the leader stepped forward and looked at them._

_“You mustn’t let that cloaked guy fight. We are too afraid of him.”_

_Everyone looked to Ayame and she explained that they were forced to tell the truth because of her gas. They all started laughing before Emi stepped forward._

_“Emi wait!”_

_Emi turned around before her eyes dulled._

_“Uh oh,” Ayame gasped, “I think she breathed in some of the gas.”_

_“So does that mean that she’s forced to tell the truth?” Kira asked slyly._

_“Um, yes.”_

_“Hey Em, do you have any preference as to what you want us to do with them?”_

_Emi turned to the group of wizards and stated simply, “I would like to use my Black Dragon spell to annihilate the group in one go, but I’m certain that that would make too big of a commotion. My next plan would’ve been to trap them underground, but I wouldn’t want to destroy the forest. Perhaps I could burn them alive?”_

_The group of bandits all paled and fell to their knees, pleading for their lives. The wizards sweatdropped before asking Emi to simply tie them up and turn them into the authorities. Emi looked at them in confusion before continuing her speech._

_“Are you sure? I would much rather drown them. Kira, you can help me with that, yes? I think it would be more efficient than restraining them.”_

_“Um, Emi,” Ayame started, “I don’t really think that it would be necessary to do that. Why don’t you stand back while we take care of them.”_

_“Very well.”_

_Emi stepped aside and let the others tie the bandits up. They all looked at Emi curiously before she told them that their stares were making her uncomfortable. Sting joined her by the base of a tree and sat down._

_“So you have to tell the truth, huh?”_

_“I believe so. It would make sense that the gas affects me as well.”_

_“Hey Emi, since you have to tell the truth, which one of us do you like the most?”_

_Emi stayed quiet for a minute before she questioned, “For which purpose?”_

_They all looked at her and asked her to elaborate._

_“Well there are a variety of purposes. As a friend, as a lover, as a family member, as a stranger, as an enemy. There are lots more.”_

_“Who do you love most overall?”_

_“But I feel different types of love for each of you.”_

_Sting chimed in, “Who are you most fond of?”_

_“Oh. You should’ve put it like that from the beginning. I am most fond of--”_

_“You gotta let us go! We promise we’ll never steal anything ever again. Just please let us get away from him.”_

_Emi glanced at the bandits before stating, “We all know you are only lying in order to escape. Just so you know, I am trained in tracker magic and will always be able to find you. Don’t ever forget that.”_

_They all started screaming before they were knocked unconscious from Emi’s punch. She turned to the group and asked why they didn’t help her. They revealed that she definitely didn’t need any help with them._

_“Back to the question! Who are you most fond of?”_

_“I would say that I’m most fond of Lector.”_

_“WHAT?”_

_“Lady Emiko, are you for real? You love me more than you love Sting?”_

_Emi looked towards the exceed and smiled before patting him gently._

_Kira, Ayame and Sting all spoke up, disappointment evident in their voices, “That’s so cruel.”_

_“Lady Emiko likes me best!”_

_Sting looked over to Emi to see she had a glint in her eyes. He rolled his eyes before whispering something to her. The girl couldn’t help but giggle and agree with what he was saying._

_“Hey!” Kira shouted. “Tell us what you’re talking about.”_

_“I do not wish to,” Emi stated._

_“You have to. Now tell the truth,” Ayame added._

_“He asked me if I wanted to sleep with--”_

_“Em!”_

_“Okay, okay,” Emi laughed. “He figured out that the gas didn’t actually work on me.”_

_They all gave her blank stares before Sting helped Emi stand up. She meandered over to the group of bandits and crouched down to their level. They all immediately started to shake and beg for their lives._

_“Just so you know, I don’t just go around killing people. I only kill who I have to, and lowly bandits that can’t even use magic are not my priority. I just wanted to scare you so you would cooperate.”_

_“Let’s go turn them in before you give them any more heart attacks,” Ayame suggested._


	99. Wyvern

_“Lady Emiko, why does it always have to be so spicy?” Lector whined._

_“But it’s not even that spicy.”_

_Lector protested, “But it is! I can’t feel my little tongue.”_

_“Wash it down with some milk.”_

_Sting laughed at the two as he leaned his head in his hand. He called them both over and asked them to sit back down. Lector reluctantly did after he was scolded. Sting turned to the exceed and asked him to please finish his meal. Emi went back over to the stove and got another plate. Lector looked at his food and pushed it around with his fork._

_Sting seemed to notice as he whispered, “If you finish your meal, we can go out for ice cream later. I bet that’ll make your tongue feel better.”_

_Lector smiled brightly before shoving all the food into his mouth at the same time. Sting tried to stop him, but it was too late. He had turned completely red and steam seemed to be coming out of his nose. Emi turned around to see that Lector was uncomfortable._

_“Would you like more milk, Lector?”_

_“Yes ma’am!”_

\--------------------------------------------------

_“I don’t wanna!”_

_Sting and Emi looked at the pouting exceed before Emi sighed and walked out of the room. She returned seconds later with a bowl of carrots._

_“How about this,” Emi offered, “if you finish this bowl of carrots, you can stay up later.”_

“Aw, he’s like a little kid,” Mira gushed.

“I am not!” Lector fought back. “I just didn’t wanna go to sleep yet.”

_Lector looked at the bowl and puffed his chest before taking from Emi’s hands. He sat on the ground and placed the bowl on the floor before taking a carrot in his paws and eating it. Sting and Emi looked on in amusement as Lector’s face twisted in disgust._

_“See?” Lector pointed out weakly. “I can eat the carrots. I can stay up longer.”_

_Emi shrugged, “Looks like you have nine more to go.”_

_Lector was able to finish six carrots before he started crying._

_“I can’t, Lady Emiko. They’re too gross!”_

_Sting chuckled at his friend, guessing, “Does that mean you’ll go to bed now?”_

_Lector pouted for a minute before he started to walk to his room._

_“Lector,” Emi called after him, “you were able to eat sixty percent of the carrots I gave you.”_

_“I know. I just couldn’t take it anymore!”_

_“What I’m saying,” Emi laughed, “is I was going to give you one more hour if you finished the carrots. You finished sixty percent of the carrots, which means you deserve sixty percent of the hour to stay up. That would be thirty six minutes.”_

_Lector’s eyes lit up before he jumped happily in the air and ran to his room to get his toy. He returned with a toy boat and asked the couple to play with him._

“I wish Happy was like that,” Lucy grumbled. “He would seem so much cuter than being annoying all the time.”

“Now, now, Lucy!” Happy exclaimed. “I’m not annoying. Natsu thinks I’m the best, right Natsu?”

“You bet!”

\-------------------------------------------------------

_Emi had just gotten out of the shower when she saw Lector jumping on her and Sting’s bed. Emi laughed before revealing that she had caught him, causing Lector to immediately stop jumping and look at her sheepishly._

_“Sorry. Your bed is just so much more jumpy.”_

_Emi ushered the exceed back to his room so she could get dressed. She felt a soft touch on her back as Sting gently trailed his fingers over her scars._

_“When did you get here? I thought you were on a job.”_

_Sting chuckled, “I just got back. Good thing I did.”_

_Emi hummed before finding her training clothes and taking them out._

_“That’s certainly different. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you show that much skin.”_

_“Kira and I are training today. Besides, I have my cloak to go over it. This is just more comfortable to wear when training.”_

_Sting gently moved her hair to one side and kissed the back of her neck. Emi let out a content sigh as she felt Sting’s arm wrap around her waist and pull her into him so her back was on his chest._

_“Ya know,” Sting whispered, “it was a pretty dangerous job I just went on. I missed you and Lector a lot.”_

_“You could’ve taken Lector with you.”_

_His grip tightened slightly as he moved his head so it was on Emi’s right shoulder. Emi caught on when she felt his soft kisses on her neck. She turned around in the embrace so she was facing him. She raised an eyebrow at the dragon slayer, but he just wiggled his eyebrows back at her._

_“Why do you do this every time I shower?”_

_Sting didn’t answer and went back to kissing her neck, biting ever so slightly._

_“Lector is in the other room,” Emi stated as she tried to keep her indifferent demeanor._

_“We can be quiet.”_

_Emi’s hands gripped his forearms as he continued to kiss her._

_“Don’t you worry about a thing, Em,” Sting joked. “I’ll be here to make sure you don’t scream too loud.”_

_Emi’s face turned as red as a carnation. Sting chuckled at her shyness before going over and locking the door._

“I would like for this memory to end now,” Erza stated.

“Juvia agrees.”

They all looked to Emi and Sting to see that they were avoiding eye contact with everyone.

_“Lector, we’re gonna take a nap, okay?” Sting shouted so that the exceed could hear him from his room._

_Lector yelled back an “okay” before Sting held Emi in his arms again._

\----------------------------------------------

_“Don’t you dare make us late, Sting.”_

“I am very grateful for this memory change.”

_Sting grumbled as he lazily rolled out of bed. He looked towards the door to see that Lector and Emi were standing there with their arms crossed._

_“Why so early?” Sting whined._

_Lector and Emi both looked at each other before shouting, “It’s two o’clock!”_

_Sting looked over to the clock and sighed when he saw the time._

_“Why were you sleeping for so long, Sting?”_

_Emi answered for him, saying, “Apparently you two took an exhausting request and he was so tired once you two got home that he collapsed on the bed and passed out. And, of course, he is wearing his **dirty shoes** on the bed.”_

_Sting gave an apologetic smile before slowly getting out of the bed and stretching. Lector flew on top of Sting’s head and pulled his hair._

_“Let’s go Sting! We’ll miss the train.”_

_Sting let out a yawn before grabbing his jacket and heading out the door._

_“So who’s coming with us?”_

_Emi looked straight ahead before simply answering, “No one. It’s just the three of us this time. I figured we could take it for our rent money.”_

_“Hell yes!”_

_Emi rolled her eyes before dragging him on the train. He had found himself on the floor as usual while Lector and Emi looked at the passing trees. Emi excused herself as she walked around the train trying to cure her boredom. She heard commotion on the other side of the train, so she went to check it out. She spotted the woman that helped her with directions, Erza. She was sitting with the boy she kept running into at restaurants, as well as a boy with dark hair that looked very familiar. She decided to follow a hunch that she had._

_“Excuse me, but is your name Gray?”_

_The dark haired boy looked over at the cloaked figure before nodding. He looked confused and didn’t recognize who she was. Emi smiled to herself before she waved her goodbyes and continued to walk about the train. She heard a bit of their conversation before she left._

_“What was that all about?” Gray asked Erza._

_“I’m not quite sure, but I think that was the boy who came to town a while back.”_

_Emi returned to her seat and helped Sting off the floor before laying him down on the bench across from her._

_“Em...you gotta help me…”_

_Emi sighed before kicking his stomach and knocking him unconscious. Lector continued to point out the different trees and ask what they were. They had eventually arrived in Grumble Town and met with the requester, Omar Zaheer. He had explained that a group had accidentally destroyed a Wyvern egg and now two of them were attacking the town._

_“Sweet. This will be no match for a dragon slayer like Sting, yes.”_

_The three of them surveyed the town and took note of all the damage that had been done. Buildings were destroyed and the townspeople were cowering inside their homes._

_“I guess we wait until sunset then?” Emi suggested._

_“Wait, why?”_

_Emi narrowed her eyes as she accused, “Were you not listening to him at all? He said that they only struck at sunset.”_

_Sting rubbed the back of his head before apologizing. They had wandered around the town as they waited, occasionally stopping to sit. Emi had found a small flower shop in the center of town, so she dragged both of them in and made them look at the flowers with her._

_“Lady Emiko, which flower is this one?”_

_“That’s Angelonia. Some people say it smells like apples.”_

_“That’s so cool! Do you like Angelonia?”_

_Emi smiled before saying that she grew up with Angelonia surrounding her town growing up._

_“Okay guys, it’s getting close to sunset.”_

_Emi and Lector sighed before leaving the shop with Sting. They stood on the outside of the town and kept their eyes focused on any movement. Emi sensed two creatures quickly approaching the town. A couple seconds later, the Wyvern charged at them. Sting instinctively stood in front of Emi and Lector as he watched them get closer. Emi rolled her eyes before kicking the ground and casting her Earthworm spell, knocking the two Wyvern to the ground. She raised an eyebrow at Sting who put his hands up and stepped aside._

_“I’ll take one and you take the other.”_

_Sting agreed and cast his Holy Ray at the Wyvern. He followed it up with his White Dragon Claw and finished it with his Holy Breath. Emi simply punched the Wyvern in the stomach before striking it with her Fury Bolt spell, shocking the Wyvern and making it motionless on the ground._

_“Now what?”_

_“I feel kind of bad for them, don’t you?” Emi asked._

_“Uh, no?”_

_“But all they wanted was to protect their egg. They were probably devastated when they found out that their egg was destroyed. That was their baby. Wouldn’t you feel just as angry if someone killed your child? And to be punished on top of that by us defeating them causes even more pain. They were unable to protect their baby and then they get punished for trying to go after those that harmed their family.”_

_“Uh, Em are you oka--”_

_“What would you do if someone precious was ripped away from you before your eyes? If you only wished that you would be there to protect them?”_

_“You don’t seem like you’re up for a train ride back,” Sting observed. “Let’s just check into an inn and we’ll go back tomorrow.”_

_Emi silently agreed before looking back at the two Wyvern._


	100. Another S-Class

_Emi walked into the guildhall and screamed when she saw everyone jump out of their hiding spots._

_“Surprise!”_

_Emi tilted her head before asking what the surprise was._

_“It’s to celebrate your success! We heard you went on a pretty difficult S-class reque--”_

_“All S-class requests are difficult, Mich.”_

_“Yeah but Master said this one was especially difficult.”_

_“It was rather difficult--”_

_“Not to mention life threatening,” Sting added from behind the group._

_“Woah seriously? What did you do?”_

_Master Rue stood on the second level as he came out of his office and explained, “I sent Emi on a job in Lupinus Town to deal with some assassins.”_

_“Assassins? Dude that’s like, seriously killer.”_

_Everyone laughed at Zack before turning back to Emi and questioning her._

“Where’s Lupinus Town? I’ve never heard of it before,” Lucy inquired.

“Hey Natsu,” Happy addressed, “we went to Lupinus Town before, right?”

_“It was rather straightforward. I had help from a Fairy Tail wizard, so it was easily finished. Though, one of the castles was destroyed.”_

_“Fairy Tail?!” Kira exclaimed. “Who was it? Was it--”_

_“Kira, we all know that it wasn’t their master. He would never.”_

_Kira huffed before repeating her question._

_“I worked with Natsu, though I don’t really think that he realized he was working with anyone.”_

“We worked together? No way! I would remember that.”

_“What do you mean he didn’t realize it?” Ayame asked._

_“Well, I guess there were two separate job requests sent out to our guilds, and they split us up before we got to talk, so I’m assuming he thought he was working alone the whole time. He was the distractor wizard where he drew them all to the town’s edge and I would quietly take them out without him noticing. His fire worked as a great distraction. Everyone knows that fire equals Natsu, and assassins would love to get rid of the Salamander.”_

_“Natsu is so cool,” Sting gushed._

_“I’m pretty sure you’re the only one who admires him this much, dragon boy.”_

_Mich laughed and agreed, “I’m sure everyone else sees him as a nuisance.”_

_“Why would they let Natsu on an S-class job though?” Sting inquired as he recovered from his trance. “Natsu isn’t an S-class wizard.”_

_“Apparently they forgot to label it as S-class before they sent it out to Fairy Tail.”_

_“Man, I wish we caught a break like that every once in a while. S-class pays so much more.”_

_Everyone groaned in agreement with Rin as they hung their heads down._

\------------------------------------------------------

_“So how did the job really go?” Sting asked as they walked back to their apartment._

_Emi shrugged and said that she had already told them everything._

_“Em,” Sting chided, “I know when you’re hiding something.”_

_“That isn’t true.”_

_“Yeah it is.”_

_“No.”_

_“Yes.”_

_“You’re wrong. I’m perfectly fine.”_

_“I’m right, and something is bothering you.”_

_Emi and Sting stood in the middle of the street with their arms crossed as they stared at each other. Sting smirked before putting his plan into action._

_“If you tell me, I’ll take you to the flower gardens tonight. I heard they’re open.”_

_Emi’s stare faltered for a moment before she regained her composure._

_“I can just ask the princess to let me in. Besides, I’m rather tired from the job, so I would like to head home and sleep.”_

_Sting shook his head in frustration before bringing her home. He opened the door and allowed her in. She had immediately gone into their room. Sting suggested that Lector go to his room while they discussed what happened._

_“Is Lady Emiko going to be okay?” Lector asked full of worry._

_“Don’t worry buddy. I’ll talk to her.”_

_Sting carefully opened the bedroom door and saw that Emi was sitting on his side of the bed. He gently sat on her side and tugged her cloak so she would notice. She turned to look at him over her shoulder. He crawled so he was closer to her and held one of her hands and squeezed it. Emi let out a breath and fell to the side so she was laying on the pillow. Sting chuckled before getting off the bed and making his way over to her. He crouched down in front of her and rubbed circles on her hand. Emi slightly lifted her head, and Sting gently grabbed either side of her hood and slowly pulled it off her._

_“Ready to tell me what’s wrong?”_

_“There’s nothing to tell.”_

_“Just so you know, distancing yourself from me won’t work. Try all you want, but I’m not leaving you.”_

_Emi’s eyes slowly met his as he continued to hold her hand. He leaned up to her level and gave her a light kiss._

_“I had to kill seven people on that job.”_

_Sting hummed and started to stroke her hair._

_“They weren’t even working for the Sins. They were just plain wizards.”_

_“Assassins,” Sting corrected. “They kill people for fun, Em. Nobody blames you for protecting the town. And you shouldn’t blame yourself.”_

_Emi stayed silent and closed her eyes. Sting gave a small smile before standing up and starting to walk out of the room._

_“Sting?”_

_He stopped walking and turned around to face the girl that was now sitting cross legged in the middle of the bed._

_“That was a quick recovery,” Sting teased._

_Emi smiled brightly before waving the dragon slayer back over to her. He chuckled before returning to the bed. Emi stood up on the bed so that she was a little taller than Sting._

_“What are you doing?” Sting asked through laughter._

_Emi took his head in her hands and leaned down to kiss him. Sting backed away and raised an eyebrow at the girl. She just jumped down from the bed and pulled him in for another kiss._

_“Oh? What’s this all about?”_

_Emi gave him a sheepish smile before hugging him tightly. Sting looked down at her before leaning down and nuzzling his head into her shoulder. Emi shifted so she was looking at the dragon slayer and gripped his forearms. She leaned up once more and kissed him._

“I find this exchange to be cute,” Erza declared. 

Mira squeaked, “Me too!”

Lucy looked at the memory before mumbling, “Why do I have a feeling…”

_They were both giggling as they kissed each other. Something in Sting seemed to snap, and he guided both of them to the wall next to the door._

_“Jump,” Sting grunted._

_Emi smiled and did so, Sting catching her and gripping her legs._

“I knew it,” Lucy groaned. 

“What do you mean?” Wendy asked. 

_They both pressed their foreheads against one another before Sting whispered something in her ear. Emi closed her eyes and whispered something back._

“What did they say?” Yukino wondered. 

“I think it’s better if we don’t know,” Lucy muttered. 

_They kissed once more before Sting started to kiss her neck. Emi closed her eyes again and tightened her grip on his arms._

“Do you see how much fun I had over the years?” Cain joked. 

Sting and Emi blushed and apologized to the demon. 

_“Shh,” Sting whispered._

_“What is it?” Emi asked out of breath._

_His ears perked up before giving her another kiss and letting her down. A couple seconds later there was a knock on the door._

_“Sting, is Lady Emiko okay now?”_

_Emi and Sting made eye contact before giving each other one last soft kiss before going over and opening the door._

_“Don’t worry Lector. I’m fine. I’m just tired.”_

_Lector waved his paw and affirmed, “That’s good Lady Emiko. I was very worried, yes.”_


	101. Prelude to Destruction

_“Truth or dare?”_

_Yuuki pondered for a second and told Rin that she would pick the truth option._

_“What’s your biggest fear?”_

_“Aluminum.”_

_Everyone started laughing at Yuuki’s seriousness._

_“You’re actually afraid of aluminum? I gotta remember that.”_

“Where are we?” Wendy wondered.

“It looks like another party at the guild,” Levy observed.

“I think this is the Halloween party.”

_Yuuki huffed before turning to Kira and asking which option she would want. She chose dare, so Yuuki dared her to hug Sting. They both scowled before each of them took a shot in order to avoid it. Mich was next and he picked dare, so Kira dared him to aim a spell at Sting._

_“Kira, he might get hurt!” Ursa scolded._

_“That’s what I’m aiming for.”_

_“Mich, you better take a shot or else Emi will kill you,” Ursa continued._

_Mich shrugged and took a shot. He chose Sting to be the next player and he chose truth._

_“When was the last time you had sex?”_

_Sting’s ears turned red and his eyes darted around before huffing and taking a shot. Everyone groaned when they realized he wouldn’t tell. Sting then dared Ursa to eat an entire pie. Ursa screamed in frustration as she was handed her least favorite food, strawberry pie. She eventually finished and chose Emi._

_“Truth.”_

_Ursa looked at her with a glint in her eyes as she repeated the question Sting got, “When was the last time you had sex?”_

_Emi shrugged before simply answering, “A couple hours ago.”_

_Everyone gasped before looking at Sting slyly. Sting had his mouth open as he stared at Emi._

_“Why would you tell them that?” Sting asked exasperated._

_“I chose truth and I am not fond of alcohol.”_

_Sting huffed before he saw Rin and Much staring at him._

_“Good for you, pal!"_

\---------------------------------------------------

_“We’re off! I’ll see you all in a week,” Emi promised as Sting and Lector joined her._

_They all waved their goodbyes as they watched them leave. The train ride was typical, but it was rather short. Emi and Lector dragged the dragon slayer off the train and headed towards the requester’s house. Emi took in the sights of Tuly Village as they walked through._

_“The job is simple. We want you to help us rebuild the clock tower that the Salamander wizard destroyed.”_

Everyone gave Natsu a displeased look. 

Makarov spoke up angrily, “I remember this incident. I hate to write so many apologies!”

_“Why do we always have to clean up after that guy?” Emi complained as the three wizards made their way to the clock tower._

_“Well,” Lector pointed out as they took in the sight of the rubble, “he certainly did a number on this one, yes.”_

_Sting groaned as he looked at all the stone that needed to be moved._

_“We’re gonna die here.”_

_“Not necessarily,” Emi countered. “Levitate.”_

_The stones started to float in the air as they made their way over to where the clock tower would be reconstructed. She quickly used Navigation to gather them in their place. She next used her Shadow Form to keep the stones in place as she started to move closer._

_“All we have to do is mortar the stones. My shadow will hold them in place in the meantime.”_

_“You’re so cool,” Lector breathed._

_They worked on the job for three days and were able to finish ahead of schedule._

_“It’s pretty dark out. Wanna just stay at the inn again and head back tomorrow? They don’t expect us back for a few days anyway.”_

_They checked into the inn, all of them flopping on the beds. Sting and Lector were starfishing on one bed and Emi sprawled across the other._

_“That was so tiring,” Sting mumbled. “Good thing we had Emi here, right Lector?”_

_Lector whined, “I had to fly up so many times. I’m beat.”_

_Emi giggled at the two of them before she jumped between them on the other bed. They both groaned at the sudden movement. She apologized before holding their hands._

_“Isn’t this relaxing?”_

_“What would be relaxing would be all of us going to sleep.”_

_Emi scoffed at Sting before pulling him off the bed. He protested before he was dragged out on the balcony._

_“What do you think you’re doing? I wanna sleep.”_

_Emi hugged Sting tightly. He sighed before holding on to her loosely._

_“Isn’t this nice?”_

_Sting hummed before he held her a little tighter. He kissed the top of her head before leading them back to the room and laying her on her bed. They both looked over to see that Lector was cuddled into the blankets and snoring. Sting wiggled his eyebrows._

_“I learned this new spell about making someone go into a trance where they can’t hear or see anything.”_

_Sting started to rub her thighs as he looked back over._

_“Would you like me to cast it?”_

_Sting continued to do what he was doing, so Emi took that as his answer and cast the Dull spell._

\---------------------------------------

_“That was such an exhausting request,” Sting complained. “I can’t wait to sleep in my own bed.”_

_“I want to eat some tasty fish that Lady Emiko makes, yes.”_

_They walked from the train station and to the edge of Crocus where they stopped in for some dessert. They chatted for a while, mainly about what they were going to do with the little bit of extra money they had. Suddenly, a loud explosion could be heard from outside. They ran out of the shop and tried to find out what it was, but they couldn’t see anything. Sting stood absolutely still as he listened to something._

_“Em.”_

_Emi seemed to sense it as well, her heart dropping as she sprinted towards the guildhall. She could hear the screams of the townspeople as they started to run away from the guildhall. She pushed past them all and stood in front of the guild, eyes widening and her breath hitching as she saw that the entire guildhall was on fire. Sting had caught up to her and gasped once he saw the state of the hall._

_“Emi, run!” Yuuki shouted from the side of the building._

_“Sting, get them out of here,” Mich shouted._

_Sting turned to Emi to tell her to evacuate the townspeople, but he only saw a blurred figure dashing inside the guildhall._

_Kira was standing over Ayame as she cast her Sea Serpents spell in the direction of the smoke. Emi rushed over to them and started to heal Ayame._

_“Are you--”_

_“Well, well. Look who we have here. Say, I don’t think we’ve ever met, have we?”_

_Emi slowly turned around to face the smoke as it cleared. There stood a man with pink hair and yellow eyes. She looked at him in fear, recognizing him._

_“Sloth…”_

_Sloth clapped his hands together in fake applause as he said, “Good for you! You’re just as smart as I remember hearing.”_

_Emi readied herself for an attack, but all he did was stand there._

_“Say, what do we do now, Leader?”_

_Emi’s heart stopped once she heard another voice behind Ayame and Kira. She turned to see a man with white hair and red eyes._

_Emi gulped and stutterd, “Wr...Wrath?”_

_Sloth clapped his hands once more, praising, “See, Leader? She even knows you. What a smart little demon girl you are.”_


	102. Destruction

_“Well? Don’t be shy. I’ve been having some fun with your little friends here.”_

_Emi looked around what was left of the guildhall and saw that Zack was lying motionless on the ground._

_“...Zack?”_

_“You know,” Sloth drawled, “I applaud him for trying, but it seems his magic was weak. A demon being tricked by Hypnosis is unheard of. We made sure to show him that.”_

_Emi’s eyes scanned the area and she choked once she saw Master Rue also laying limp._

_“Oh yeah. Your guild master tried to defend his...what did he call you? ‘Children,’ was it? Pathetic.”_

_“Emi,” Kira warned, “you have to get out of here. We can hold them off.”_

_“Now now,” Wrath waved his finger, “that would ruin the fun.”_

_Yuuki came back into the hall and cast a shield of glass around Ayame and Kira to protect them. Sloth scoffed and snapped his fingers, sending an arrow through the glass and making it shatter. Yuuki looked at him in disbelief._

_“My...glass? Was broken?”_

_“Silly human,” Sloth laughed, “of course it was broken. My arrows can pierce any magical barrier.”_

_With that, Yuuki was sent flying back and slammed against the far wall. Emi screamed her name and moved to rush to her. A green barrier surrounded Yuuki before Emi could reach her._

_“Let her go,” Emi hissed._

_The barrier kept getting smaller, and Emi could see that she was struggling to breathe. She tried her Dispel, but as soon as it removed the spell, Sloth recast it. Emi cast her Dagger Strike at the Sin to try to break the spell at the source, but he sent his arrows to counter the daggers, knocking them all off to the side. The green barrier continued to shrink before Yuuki’s body was starting to be crushed. Emi frantically slapped the barrier, trying to break it._

_“That won’t work,” Sloth happily sang._

_Before she could react, the barrier completely shrank, crushing Yuuki’s body and killing her. Emi backed away from the spot with wide eyes before she started to cry._

_“Soldiers shouldn’t cry on the battlefield, daughter of Cain. You should be happy for them. From what I’ve gathered, that girl and the pathetic boy over there were involved. Now they can be together forever.”_

_Emi brushed away her tears and stood up straight. She heard an explosion from behind them and turned to see that Mich and Rin were standing there. Wrath seemed to have been hit by the explosion, as he jumped further into the guildhall and landed next to Sloth. Rin cast a spell with his Gravity magic that weighed the Sins down. Mich then used his Explosion magic and aimed a bomb at them. Wrath laughed before snapping his fingers, canceling both spells._

_“Would you like them back?” Wrath asked with a devilish smirk._

_“What does that--”_

_“Mich, Rin! Get away, quickly!” Emi warned._

_It was too late. Both of their spells appeared behind them and hit them dead on. Wrath laughed as he watched them struggle to stand back up._

_“That’s something called Deflection magic. Impressive, isn’t it? Whatever you throw at me will be pushed back at you in a split second, so choose your spells carefully.”_

_Sloth chimed in, “Leader, you shouldn’t have to fight the whole time. Rest while I deal with these weaklings.”_

_Emi started her Virtue Hymn, but she was stopped when she saw that Sloth was holding Ursa by the neck. Ursa summoned a giant tiger that rushed at the both of them. Sloth jumped out of the way while still holding onto her neck. Ursa summoned a shark and sent it right towards both of them._

_“Ursa, wait!” Emi screamed. “If you do that you’ll--”_

_“I won’t ever regret dying for my family,” Ursa choked before the shark ate them both. Emi could hear Kira cry as she watched Ursa being torn apart by the shark._

_“Tsk tsk tsk,” Wrath scolded. “Now look what you’ve done.”_

_Kira spoke up, “Yeah well she took out your friend there, so I would say that--”_

_“Oh me?” Sloth innocently asked as he returned to Wrath’s side._

_They all looked at him in horror before Ayame stuttered, “How did you--”_

_“A demon has its ways.”_

_“...Demon?” Ayame and Kira asked._

_“Oh ho ho,” Wrath sang. “You never told them about yourself, daughter of Cain? How pathetic. You put your precious friends in harm’s way and didn’t even tell them? How sad.”_

_“Emi, what is he talking about?”_

_Before Emi could answer, they heard Mich struggling to get up. They looked behind them to see that Rin was bleeding from his head and stayed completely still._

_“Listen here, pal. I don’t care what you are. Phoenix Wing will--”_

_“Oh hush now,” Wrath groaned as he cast a destruction spell, knocking rubble over from the roof and landing on both him and Rin._

Everyone looked on in shock and horror as they watched the Sins continue to kill the guild members. They all looked towards Sting, Lector and Emi and saw that they were looking with tears flowing freely and shaking. Sting couldn’t even look at the memory for more than a couple seconds and Lector buried his face in Sting’s chest to block the view. 

_Emi started shaking her head in fear before muttering, “No. This can’t be happening.”_

_Emi cast her Shell of Divinity on Sloth._

_He looked around him and huffed, “Well how am I supposed to have any fun when you confine me to such a small space?”_

_Emi turned to Wrath and looked at him with cold eyes before casting her Immolate spell. Fire began to engulf the Sin and continued to burn when he tried to put it out. He sighed before snapping his fingers and canceling the spell._

_“Now what did I just tell your friends over there? Have your spell back.”_

_The fire came rushing at Emi, causing Kira to scream. The fire hit Emi head on, causing her to be pushed back from the force. The flames burned all around her before turning blue. Kira and Ayame looked on in horror as Emi continued to stand unaffected by the blue flames._

_“I see!” Sloth happily exclaimed from inside the Shell of Divinity. “It seems that traitor taught you some magic held for himself as well.”_

_Wrath quirked an eyebrow at Emi before smirking and sending his black flames at her._

_“Not even the Blue Demon can escape from my flames. There’s a reason why he’s ranked below.”_

_Emi was able to barely dodge the flames and stand on her feet again, casting her Acid Burst spell. A ball of acid was aimed at Wrath and was able to hit his left arm. He hissed as the acid ate away at his arm. She followed up with Chrysaor sword and cut off the arm. She jumped back just in time to dodge his Scatter spell and watched as flames engulfed the area around her. Sloth began to clap in approval as he cheered Wrath on._

_“Aren’t you a little too old to act like a kid?” Kira sneered._

_“Leader, I believe the purple haired one should go next.”_

_Kira readied herself for Wrath’s possible attacks, but gasped when Ayame was lifted above her._

_“Yame!” Emi and Kira shouted._

_“Not that one, Leader. The other one,” Sloth whined._

_Wrath gave an evil smile as he crushed Ayame’s neck. She was able to cast a spell, just barely._

_“Gas...Summon: E...ternal Rest!”_

_A dark green gas surrounded the demon, causing him to cough a little. His cocky demeanor returned a few seconds later._

_“You should know that demons are immune to gasses and poisons. It’s a perk of being inhuman.”_

_WIth that, Ayame’s neck was completely crushed and she fell limp to the ground. He crouched down to her level and twisted her neck all the way around, killing her._

_“Em!”_

_Kira and Emi turned around to see Sting standing at the entrance. Emi screamed at him to leave and take Kira with him, but they both stood with serious looks on their faces._

_“We’re not leaving you here alone.”_

_Sting aimed a Holy Breath at Wrath, which he deflected and sent back towards him. Sting steadied himself and swallowed the attack._

_“Oh? Dragon slayer? Dragon slayer and demon slayer in one guild? My my.”_

_Sting’s fists glowed, signalling that he was planning on using the White Dragon Claw._

_“Sting, no! He’ll just cancel it. You can’t get too close to him.”_

_The glow slowly disappeared before he cast his Holy Ray. Wrath’s other arm was burnt and his stomach started to melt. Wrath started laughing before flashing over to Kira and lifting her up by the back of her shirt. Emi and Sting’s eyes widened in horror._

_“Please,” Emi pleaded, “just let them go.”_

_Wrath’s smirk grew as he listened to her beg and taunted, “How I love to hear you beg for mercy. It’s my favorite part of the job. Unfortunately for you, I quite enjoy the looks on people’s faces once someone precious to them is killed right in front of them.”_

_Emi quickly cast her Divinity Surge spell right at the both of them, phasing through Kira and hitting Wrath in the stomach. Emi ripped her cloak off to reveal the black markings on her right arm. She held her arm in the air and it started to glow._

_“What’s this?” Wrath and Sloth inquired._

_Wrath cackled before snapping his fingers and stopping the spell. Emi was blown back from the impact of the glow returning to her body._

_“You’ve been a poor sport so far, daughter of Cain. We would like to give you a lesson.”_

_Sting looked at Sloth before his eyes darted to the sudden movement by Wrath. Emi had lunged at him with her Chrysaor sword again. She was able to slice his stomach before he grabbed her arm and tossed her back fifty feet, knocking her against the stone wall of the guildhall._

_“Sting...get out of here. Take Lector...and run.”_

_She looked up to see Sting and Wrath staring each other down. Something in Wrath seemed to click, as he started howling._

_“I see now. You two are mated! What a surprise. This will make killing you so much more fun. Before that though…”_

_Wrath held out his hand and a long blade appeared. He used his magic to make Kira float in front of him. She continued to struggle, but she gave Emi a small smile._

_“I really...liked hanging out with you. I’m...so happy we got...to meet. I really love...you.”_

_Emi started to cry as she watched the sword get closer to Kira._

_“Hey...dragon boy, k...keep her safe, will...you? I’ll haunt you if you...don’t.”_

_Kira gave Emi and Sting one last smile before her head was cut clean off._

Everyone held their hands to their mouths as they watched Kira being executed. They all glanced over at Emi to see that she had fallen on the ground and started to scream as Lector landed on top of her head.

“I don’t wanna see this memory anymore!” Lector cried.

Sting balled his fists and kept his head down as the memory continued to play out. 

_Sting jumped in front of Emi and steadied her so she was able to stand from the shock._

_“You gotta go, Em.”_

_“I’m not fucking leaving you to get killed like that.”_

_“Don’t you worry, daughter of Cain. I’ll make sure to give him a nice and painful death. On the house! No charge necessary.”_

_“Leader, I always knew you were so kind!”_

_Emi pushed Sting behind her before she cast her Sealing spell._

_“Magia Kera!”_

_A golden pell circle formed under Wrath and Sloth. Another spell circle formed above them. Wrath looked at the spell in shock before he growled and tried to jump out of the way._

_“Shell of Divinity!”_

_Wrath was caught inside the shell, just as Sloth was before. The magic circles touched both Sins, causing them to scream. Their bodies glowed gold before they fell to the ground._

_“What did you do to them?”_

_“I sealed away their magical powers. Since they’re demons, their magic is crucial to maintaining their life force. So taking away their powers makes them weak.”_

_Sloth and Wrath growled before Wrath snapped his fingers and sent the spell back at Emi, a magic circle forming under her. The circle quickly disappeared because Wrath’s magic was sealed._

_“Get on the next train and travel to a far town and hide there,” Sting ordered._

_“But I--”_

_“Seal them away first and then go.”_

_“I’m not leaving--”_

_“We’ll find you once this is over. I promise you.”_

_“Sting, I--”_

_He turned to her with a small smile before giving her a tight hug. He squeezed her tight before letting go and pushing her towards the direction of the train station. He forced a grin and waved her off._

_“Love ya.”_

_Emi sobbed before repeating the statement back and running to the train. Once she boarded the train, she looked back to the city to see that smoke was billowing out from where the guildhall was. She saw two shadows dart out of the smoke and dash across the sky, showing her that the Sins had fled with what little magic they had left. She made sure to sit in the back of the train and pulled her cloak tightly around her._

_“I’m...so sorry,” Emi choked._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please don't hate me.


	103. memoria exisse

_Emi had ran off the train to a distant village. She looked around and saw that it was Hargeon. She quickly checked into an inn and dropped her cloak before sitting in the corner of the room and rocking as she sobbed. She couldn’t stop, even after an hour of nonstop crying. Her eyes turned dull as she lost all emotion from exhaustion._

_“I guess I don’t have anything to lose now.”_

_At her words, she started crying again. Her shaking was uncontrollable._

_“Yuuki had to watch as Zack was killed. She loved him with all her heart and I took that away from them. Ursa sacrificed herself and I couldn’t even make her death mean something. Yuuki and Ayame, they tried their best just like Rin and Mich. I…”_

_She gripped her arm so tightly that she started bleeding._

_“Kira…”_

_She screamed louder than she ever had before. She looked down at her clothes. The one Kira had bought her. She struggled to breath through her weeping._

_“I did this to them. I did this to all of them. My selfishness killed them.”_

_Someone knocked on her door, causing Emi to jump. She got into a fighting position and her eyes turned cold. A small voice spoke to the closed door._

_“Miss, are you alright? We’ve been hearing your screams by the check in desk and I started to worry.”_

_Emi whipped the door open and looked at the woman with a glare._

_“I’m in good physical condition. Thank you for your concerns, but they are not needed.”_

_“Are you su--”_

_“I am absolutely positive,” Emi snapped as she closed the door and made her way back to the corner._

_She looked towards her cloak and scoffed._

_“What good did you do me, huh? You certainly didn’t do your job. Are you telling me all this time I could’ve lived without you?”_

_Emi eventually passed out from exhaustion, but was haunted by the memories of her closest friends getting killed over and over._

\----------------------------------

_After a couple days, Emi had finally left the room. She had not eaten and she barely slept. She went to grab her cloak so she could get something to eat, but she decided to leave it. Emi was able to find a small diner near the center of town, so she sat in the corner and ordered water and a bowl of rice. Afterwards, she was able to gather enough energy to walk towards the magic shop in town._

_“Welcome to the shop! Tell me, are you a wizard? I could help you find something that suits your magic type,” a young man cheered._

“That’s the magic shop that I went to and got Plue.”

“Did it change ownership recently?” Erza asked.

“Not that I know of.”

_“I’m just looking.”_

_“I think I have something that will be of interest to you.”_

_“I’m not interested.”_

_“I think you could use a fresh start, don’t you agree?”_

_Emi stopped walking and glared at the shop owner before telling him that she didn’t need his help._

_The man continued, “Haunted by your past, are you not?”_

_“That’s none of your business.”_

_“I have a deal that you might be interested in, daughter of Cain.”_

_With that, Emi froze completely. She slowly turned around and saw that the man was smirking. Emi was in front of him in less than a second and held him up by his collar. She demanded to know who he was, but he just continued with his questions._

_“Sloth wanted me to show you a way to make this all stop. Wouldn’t you like to know? He said that if you agree, what’s left of your guild will be safe from him and Wrath. He said it was a simple act of kindness for the trouble he has caused over the years.”_

_“That demon doesn’t know kindness.”_

_“I would take the deal if I were you. What is his name? Sting? And that cat of his, Lector as it?’_

_Emi’s gaze turned homicidal. She tightened her grip on his neck._

_“Just so you know, I have nothing holding me back anymore to stop me from killing you.”_

_The man cackled and reminded, “I would keep in mind your loved ones. If you take the deal, Sloth has promised that he will leave them and let them be safe. You should know that he knows where they are, and he has no problem attacking what’s left of your happiness.”_

_Emi slowly loosened her grip on the man and dropped him on the floor. She demanded to know what Sloth would consider a deal worth sparing her Sting and Lector._

_“All you have to do is allow me to cast a simple memory spell on you. Then your friends will be safe.”_

“Em, please don’t tell me that--”

Her only answer was spoken with her staring only at the memory, “It’s definitely all coming together now.”

_“What does this spell entail?”_

_“It’s a memory spell that erases your memories. Think of it as a fresh start. You won’t have to deal with the sadness, the guilt, the anguish. It sounds like a pretty good deal to me.”_

_Emi thought for a moment before turning to the man._

_“I refuse.”_

_“Well then I guess the Sins will deal with your loved ones.”_

_“I will protect them myself.”_

_With that, Emi started to exit the shop._

Sting let out a sigh of relief, thankful that Emi had not given up her memories for him. They all looked content with her refusal, but their faces quickly changed.

_“Then I guess I have no choice.”_

_Before Emi could ask what he was talking about, chains wrapped around her legs and pulled her off her feet before slamming her into a wall. She struggled to get on her feet. More chains appeared and grabbed her wrists and neck, making it impossible for her to shake them off. She commanded flames to erupt from her body as she tried to melt the chains._

_“I should tell you that won’t work. My chains were blessed by a holy priestess, so your demon magic has no effect.”_

_Emi continued to struggle as she watched the man stalk closer to her. She saw his hands start to glow a bright green._

_“Don’t worry. This won’t hurt a bit.”_

_Emi glared at the man as his hands were placed on her temples._

_“Before I make you forget anything, I should let you know that the people of Crocus are safe. The Sins asked me to alter their memories. They think that your guild was attacked and annihilated by a dark guild. If they were still alive,” the man chuckled, “the rest of your guild would be free from harm as well once you lose your memories.”_

_Emi growled as she continued to struggle with the chains. She glared daggers at the man._

_“Oh, and just so you know,” the man revealed, “this deal is only valid while your memories are gone. Once you regain them, they said that they will come after you again. So be a good little girl and keep forgetting.”_

_Emi could feel her brain go fuzzy as her life flashed before her eyes. The chains started to release as she began to feel light headed. She flashed the killer look in her eyes. Just before her vision went black, she used her Immolate spell, engulfing the man in flames. She fell over once the chains were completely released, and she lay motionless on the floor._

“Holy shit,” Gray and Natsu breathed.


	104. The Lightning Man

_Emi woke up and found herself on the floor of an unknown shop. She looked around before spotting a pile of ash in front of her. She looked at it curiously before shrugging it off and pulling herself up._

_“I must’ve fainted,” Emi concluded. “It would explain why I feel so horrible.”_

_She quickly exited the shop before scanning the street in front of her, taking in all the shops and people._

_“Where...am I?’_

_She poked a woman on the shoulder to gain her attention._

_“Excuse me, but where are we?”_

_“Why, we’re in Hargeon dear. Are you lost?”_

_“I...think so. I’m not really sure how I got here,” Emi admitted before giggling. “I guess I just spaced out. Probably because I feel like shit.”_

_“I can take you to the town doctor if you wish.”_

_“Oh,” Emi said as she thought for a second. “That would actually be very helpful. Thank you!”_

_The woman had guided Emi to the doctor and waved her goodbyes before disappearing in the crowds. Emi silently went into the building and saw the doctor. He examined her and ran some tests before concluding that she must be fighting off an illness._

_“I can give you something for it and send it over to the delivery service to give to you in a couple days. What’s your name and where do you live?”_

_Emi went to speak, but she couldn’t find any words. She then realized that she didn’t know the answers to either of the questions, which caused her to panic._

_“Miss, are you alright?”_

_“I’m very sorry, doctor, but I can’t seem to remember.”_

\---------------------------------------------------

_“Who...am I? How do I not know my name? Where am I going to sleep if I can’t remember where I live?”_

_Emi had aimlessly wandered around Hargeon before deciding to check in at an inn. She entered her assigned room and looked out the window._

_“Have I always been here? Where is my family? I hope they aren’t too worried about me.”_

_Emi sighed before crawling into bed and drifting off to sleep._

\---------------------------------------------------

_It had been a year since that day, and Emi had not recovered her memories. She would continue to wander around Hargeon as she tried to remember. In the span of the year, Emi had only remembered a few things - she loved frogs and flowers and apples, she enjoyed reading, and her name was Emi. She was walking back from her trip to the food market, reading her book on fairy tales that she had since the time she had woken up a year ago. She made it to the edge of town where she was staying when she was surrounded by a group of men._

_“Give us all your belongings and money, and we’ll let you live.”_

_Emi frantically looked at all the men before telling them that she had no money. They said that her books and food would be accepted as payment. They reached for her, and she started shaking._

_“Please...don’t. This is all I have.”_

_“Hey boss, look at that. She ain’t even a wizard. This should be a piece of cake.”_

_Emi continued to back away from the group when she was surrounded. Tears started to form in her eyes as she begged for them to leave her alone. They had begun to close in on her, so she hugged her book tightly to her chest. Suddenly, a huge bolt of lightning had struck in the middle of the circle before a tall figure stood in front of Emi._

_“Now I know you aren’t seriously terrorizing a young girl like that, are you?”_

_“Boss, this guy’s magic power is unbelievable,” one of the men warned._

_The boss had looked at the tall figure with wide eyes before screaming at the men to retreat._

_“That’s…that’s Laxus Dreyar! That guy from Fairy Tail.”_

_The group had quickly retreated, leaving Emi and the wizard standing in the middle of the street. Emi sniffled, causing the man to turn around. He looked down at her before his nose twitched slightly, picking up on the distinct scent she gave off. He looked past Emi and looked towards the town._

_“Are you traveling with someone? Shouldn’t they be stopping freaks like that from hurting you?”_

_Emi looked at the man in awe before stuttering, “I’m not traveling with anyone. I was just on my way back to the inn.”_

_Laxus looked at her quizzically. He studied her features before turning to walk away._

_“Wait!”_

_Laxus stopped and looked over his shoulder and grunted, “What?”_

_Laxus felt small arms wrap around his stomach, causing him to flinch. He turned around._

_“What do you think you’re doing, brat?”_

_“I need to thank you for helping me. Please let me help you.”_

_“I don’t need help with anything. Now let go.”_

_It was Emi’s turn to look at him as she tried to figure out what he was saying._

_“What do you mean? You look like you’re lost.”_

_“I think you’re the only one that’s lost.”_

_“Not like that,” Emi giggled. “You’re trying to find a purpose, right? I can tell that you’ve recently lost something important to you. If you want, I can he--”_

_“I don’t need anyone’s help. Got it?”_

_Emi crossed her arms before replying, “But you do. I can see it. I may not remember anything and I may not be strong, but I can still help you. So will you please let me help you as repayment for helping me?”_

_Laxus took one last glance at her before walking down the street. Emi’s smile faltered as her eyes drifted to the ground, full of disappointment._

_“Are you coming or not? I’m not waiting here all day.”_

_Emi’s eyes focused on the tall wizard before she beamed and jogged to catch up to him._

_“My name is Emi. It’s nice to meet you!”_


	105. The Start of a Journey

_Laxus had taken Emi back to her inn before telling her to meet him in front of the 8-Island restaurant._

_“We leave at noon.”_

_“Wait. Where are we going?”_

_“Listen brat, I’m not staying here for more than a couple days. I already did what I had to here. We’re leaving for Clover Town.”_

_The next day had come around and Emi made her way to the meeting point. Laxus was leaning against the wall of the restaurant as he impatiently waited for the girl._

_“You’re late.”_

_Emi glanced away sheepishly before admitting that she needed to ask for directions because she couldn’t remember where 8-Island was. Laxus rolled his eyes before grabbing her by the back of her shirt and dragging her to the train._

_“Hey!”_

_“I’m not going any later because you don’t know how to move,” Laxus grunted._

_Emi couldn’t help but start giggling, which made Laxus turn around and raised an eyebrow at her. She smiled brightly as she was dragged through the town._

_“It’s just,” Emi started, “you put on this tough facade when you really care about people.”_

_Laxus stopped walking, causing Emi to be pushed back slightly. He turned away from her._

_“And what the hell would you know about that?”_

_Emi smiled and spoke, “I might not know a lot, but I can tell when someone is hiding something. Besides, it’s pretty easy to tell when someone is trying to deny who they truly are.”_

_“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”_

_“You’ve lost something, and you’re trying your hardest to compensate for that. It seems like it’s something you don’t think you’ll ever get back. Am I right?”_

“Wow, I never knew you could read someone that easily,” Lucy admitted.

“That’s really cool. Read me next!” Natsu shouted. 

Emi laughed at the dragon slayer before the memory continued to play.

_“Let’s just get to the next town.”_

_“Why are we walking away from the train?”_

_“It’s close enough to walk.”_

_“But the map says that it’s a four hour walk and an hour train ride. Shouldn’t we go on the tra--”_

_“If you’re going to be traveling with me then you’re going to do things my way.”_

“You just didn’t want her to see you with motion sickness,” Gajeel snickered. 

Laxus turned to him and gave him a deadly stare. 

\-------------------------------------------------------

_“So this is Clover Town? It looks really pretty.”_

_“We’re not here to sight see, brat. Let’s go.”_

_“Can we at least stop somewhere to eat?” Emi complained. “It’s been hours.”_

_Laxus groaned, “You’ve got to be kidding me.”_

_Laxus had pushed her into a nearby diner and demanded for her to hurry up and eat. Emi happily ate her food before looking over at him._

_“Aren’t you going to eat?”_

_Laxus scoffed before he began to pick at his food. Emi hummed in approval before she turned back to her food. She smelt something on Laxus’s plate and intently stared at it. Laxus seemed to notice and pushed her for an answer as to why she was looking at his food like that._

_“Um, can I try some of that?” Emi questioned shyly as she pointed to a small piece of apple pie._

_“You’ve never had apple pie before? Really?”_

_“I don’t remember ever having it, but it smells good. I was just wondering if I could have a little piece.”_

_The lightning wizard sighed before pushing the pie towards her. Emi’s eyes lit up as she happily took a bite of the pie._

_“Your name is Emi right?”_

_Emi nodded as she continued to eat the pie._

_“Well Emi, you’re very unusual.”_

_She looked at him confused before humming and taking another bite of the pie._

_“Hey! I said you could have a piece, not the whole thing!”_

\---------------------------------------------

_“So what’re we doing?”_

_“There’s a meeting between guild masters taking place here in a couple of hours. I’m here to make sure it goes smoothly.”_

_“Guarding guild masters? Wow, you must be really strong for that. Which guild asked you to help?” Emi asked curiously._

_“Nobody did.”_

Makarov questioned, “Laxus, you’re telling me you’ve been doing these things on your own accord?”

He simply nodded.

_Emi hummed before she looked up at the building where the masters would meet. She felt a sudden wave of sadness as she looked at the building, but she couldn’t tell why. Emi quickly shook it off and continued walking with Laxus._

_“So do we go into the meeting with them or--”_

_“We stay outside and watch from afar. It’s the best way to detect danger.”_

_Laxus and Emi had sat outside of the building for two hours before the meeting ended and the guild masters exited. Laxus pulled Emi into the shadows as the masters started to walk away._

_“Why are we--”_

_“Shut up.”_

_Emi stopped talking and watched the masters file out of the building before heading towards the train station._

_“Why do we have to hide? Wouldn’t they want to know that you were able to guard them?”_

_“Stop asking so many questions.”_

\--------------------------------------------------

_“Era? Isn’t that where the Magic Council is?”_

_Laxus nodded before telling her to gather her things so they could leave. Emi shrugged and packed what little she had and followed Laxus into the woods._

_“Can’t we just take the tr--”_

_“It’s not a far walk,” Laxus insisted as he didn’t look back._

_Emi rolled her eyes before catching up to him._

_“We’re taking the train next time,” Emi sternly stated._

_“We don’t need the train.”_

_“But it would be helpful.”_

_“We don’t need it.”_

_Emi sighed, knowing the conversation was going nowhere. They had continued walking for two hours before they arrived in Era. Emi looked around in wonder as she observed the town. Laxus and Emi made their way to the Magic Council's headquarters and waited outside for someone to approach them. Emi didn’t know why, but she felt nervous as she stood there. Eventually two men exited the building and walked over to the pair._

_“Laxus, it’s nice to see you--”_

_The soldier looked at Emi for a second before looking back to Laxus._

_“Who is this?”_

_Emi smiled brightly before introducing herself. The soldier looked at her intently before his eyes widened. Laxus and Emi looked at him concerned before the soldier cleared his throat._

_“I would like for you to help out with a simple transport request. It’s to guard a caravan that’s been attacked three times already.”_

_Laxus nodded and grabbed Emi by the back of her shirt and dragged her away. Emi waved goodbye to the soldier before walking at Laxus’s pace._

_“What was up with him? He seemed strange.”_

_“All Magic Council members are strange.”_

_Emi laughed softly as they continued to walk away._


	106. And So It Continues

_“So where next?” Emi wondered._

_“We’re going to Balsam Village. They need help with an electrical problem with their lacrimas.”_

_“That’s going to be so cool to watch! Are you going to zap them with your lightning? Reset the lacrima? Are you going to be able to fix it with--”_

_“Stop talking so much. Do you do this with your companion? It’s annoying.”_

“Laxus,” Mira chided, “you shouldn’t be so harsh to people you just met.”

_“But I already told you that I don’t have a companion. I’ve been alone for as long as I can remember.”_

_“And how long do you remember?” Laxus asked curiously, following a hunch._

_“About a year. Remember, I lost my memories.”_

_Laxus hummed before leading her to the road to Balsam Village._

_“I’m sure it’ll come back eventually.”_

\-----------------------------------------------

_“Hi, my name is Emi and we’ll be helping you with your electricity!” Emi said bubbly._

_An older man smiled at the girl before replying, “Oh this is very nice to see a young woman as pretty as you to be able to help with my problem.”_

_“Actually,” Laxus said rather harshly, “it’s me that’s helping. She’s just watching.”_

_“I see. Well young lady, would you like to enjoy our spa in the meantime?”_

_“No thank you. I would rather watch Laxus work to see his magic.”_

_“Laxus? As in Laxus from Fairy Tail?”_

_Laxus groaned before silencing the old man and asking for information. Once he received it, he dragged Emi towards the building and dropped her in the corner._

_“Don’t go saying my name like that,” Laxus ordered. “I’m trying to keep a low profile.”_

_“Are you really from Fairy Tail, Laxus? I heard that’s the strongest guild in Fiore. There’s been a couple of times where members have come to Hargeon and destroyed stuff. Is it true that everyone has a habit for destruction? Are there super strong wizards there? Do you--”_

_“Stay in the corner if you’re going to watch. And stay quiet.”_

_Laxus had struck the lacrima with his lightning, causing the whole room to light up from the shock. The lighting lacrimas flickered on and off. Emi watched in amazement at the magical energy Laxus used. Eventually the lighting lacrimas were able to stay on, showing that he had fixed the problem._

_“That was so cool! You really did it!”_

_Laxus rolled his eyes at the girl before walking out of the building and back towards the requester._

_“Hey, wait up!”_

_After Emi ran to catch up to the lightning mage, they were thanked by the old man._

_“It’s getting dark out,” Emi observed._

_“No shit.”_

_Emi pouted before asking if they should stay at an inn. Laxus shrugged and led them to the village’s inn. Laxus went over to the desk and asked for a room when he turned around and started to push Emi out the door._

_“Laxus, where are we going? It’s late and I wanna sleep before we walk all the way across Fiore again.”_

_“They only have one room left.”_

_“And? Why don’t we take it then?”_

_“It doesn’t fit our needs.”_

_“What on earth does that mean? We’re going back.”_

_“No.”_

_“I’m not sleeping in the woods again and I’m tired. If I don’t get any sleep then you’ll hear about it for the rest of the walk to Malba City.”_

_“I said no.”_

_Emi stopped walking and crossed her arms as she stood in the middle of the street. Laxus turned around and did the same thing._

“Uh oh. It’s a standoff,” Lucy cringed. 

_“We either sleep in the inn and walk to Malba City or we sleep in the forest and take the train to Malba City. Your choice.”_

_“Who the hell are you to give me an ultimatum?”_

_“Please? I’m so tired.”_

_“You didn’t even do anything today except walk.”_

_Emi sighed before she hoiseted up her backpack and continued walking where Laxus was going. He stood in the middle of the street for a moment before sighing and leading her back to the inn. Emi looked at him confused before she smiled wide._

_“I told you that you cared about people.”_

_“Shut up.”_

\-----------------------------------------

_Emi and Laxus dropped their stuff in the corner of the room and stretched. Emi finally got a look at the room and laughed when she saw one double bed._

_“This is why you didn’t wanna sleep here?”_

_“It doesn’t make sense for us.”_

_“Oh come on. It’s like a sleepover!”_

_Laxus rolled his eyes before using his backpack as a pillow and laying on the floor. Emi sweatdropped._

_“Uh, Laxus, you know you can sleep on the bed, right? That’s what an inn is.”_

_“You’re sleeping in the bed. I’m sleeping on the floor.”_

_“Really?” Emi pushed. “Why don’t you just sleep on the bed, too?”_

_Laxus turned back around so he was facing her and he told her to go to sleep. Emi crossed her arms again before she walked over to Laxus and crouched down to his level. She asked him again to lay on the bed, and when Laxus refused, she grabbed his ear and pulled him up._

_“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Laxus hissed._

_She dragged him over to the bed and only let go of his ear when he finally sat down._

_“It’s just a bed, Laxus,” she spoke through laughter. “I’m not going to hurt you.”_

_Laxus glared at her and rolled his eyes when he saw the small smile on her face. He reluctantly agreed before laying down on the right side of the bed. Emi smiled proudly from her success and laid on the left side._

_“You’re staying over there. Don’t you dare try to move over here.”_

_Emi giggled, “You know, I’m not poisonous.”_

_“I don’t care.”_

_Emi shook her head, a smile still present. She pulled the covers up and faced away from the lightning dragon slayer. Laxus mirrored her actions and faced the wall. Laxus had started to drift off when he felt something on his back. Laxus growled and snapped at her._

_“What did I tell you? Stick to your side.”_

_He turned his head over his shoulder to continue to yell at her when he felt her hand tighten around the back of his shirt. He listened closely and heard that her breathing was starting to pick up. Laxus huffed and tried going back to sleep, irritated that she was touching him. He wasn’t able to sleep because he could hear her start to whimper._

_“You got to be fucking kidding me,” Laxus groaned before he tried to wake her up. “Hey brat, wake up will you? You’re getting my shirt wet and I’d like to get to sleep tonight.”_

_He got no response other than the increasing volume of her whimpers mixed with sniffles. He could start to feel her shake and he growled. He eventually decided that whatever he was trying wouldn’t work, so he got up from the bed and laid on the floor like he planned to do before. He fell asleep rather quickly, leaving Emi to continue shaking and crying._

“Wow Laxus,” Lucy scolded, “that’s harsh.”

\-------------------------------------------------

_Morning eventually came, and Laxus was woken up by the sound of footsteps._

_“Laxus? Why are you on the floor?”_

_“Because,” he growled and turned to glare at her, “you kept coming to my side and were very annoying last night.”_

_“What do you mean?”_

_“You started to cry or whatever and came to my side, so I slept on the floor like I originally said I would do.”_

_Emi’s face held a small blush from embarrassment and she quickly apologized._

_“I didn’t even know I did all that. Do i do that every night?”_

_“How the hell am I supposed to know?”_

_Emi apologized again before Laxus stood up and gathered his stuff._

_“Let’s just go already. We have a long walk.”_

\----------------------------------------------

_“Look at this place! It’s so pretty.”_

_Laxus and Emi were walking through the city, Emi getting distracted by every new thing she saw. Laxus kept dragging her to the city’s center where they met a woman who needed help carrying a large stone tablet into the historical society. Like usual, Laxus had instructed her to “get out of the way and watch” as he did the job himself. Emi kept Laxus company as he walked the tablet to the historical society building._

_“So what are we doing after this? Can we go sightseeing? Or maybe we could find a cool dessert place and--”_

_“Can’t you see that I’m busy?”_

_Emi shrugged her shoulders before moving in front of him, walking backwards as she continued to face him to speak._

_“Maybe we could find a park or something so we can sit in the shade. Or maybe--”_

_Laxus growled, “You talk way too much.”_

_Emi became silent before laughing, “Yeah I guess so. It’s just that I haven’t really talked to anyone for a year except light chat with the townspeople. It feels great to finally have a friend who can--”_

_“I’m not your friend.”_

_Emi’s smile faltered for a few seconds before it resurfaced as she disagreed, “We may not be friends right now, but I promise you that I’ll make you my friend.”_

_“Whatever. Move out of the way. This thing is heavy.”_


	107. Lizard Tongue

_“So are you actually Laxus from Fairy Tail?”_

_“What does it matter?”_

_“How come you’re not with your guildmates? Do you always go solo?”_

_“I’m not part of the guild anymore.”_

_Emi looked at Laxus in confusion before she caught on. She stood up from her seat and moved so she was standing in front of Laxus and holding his hands._

_“Hey what the hell are you--”_

_“So it’s true that you lost something precious to you.”_

_Laxus stayed quiet for a minute before he huffed and stood up, yanking his hands away from Emi._

_“Who gives a shit anyway. Not like I can get it back.”_

\------------------------------------------------

_Emi and Laxus were walking past a couple when Laxus was spotted._

_“Hey you! You’re that Dreyar wizard, aren’t you?”_

_“What of it?”_

_The man drew his sword and charged at the lightning mage. He was, of course, quickly dealt with, Laxus striking him down in one shot._

_“And what exactly were you trying to accomplish with that?” Laxus grunted._

_“Consider this your warning,” the man coughed, “because Lizard Tongue will be going after Fairy Tail.”_

_Laxus raised his eyebrow at the man before stepping on his face._

_“I’d like to see you try.”_

_Laxus then ushered Emi past the man and they continued walking through the town._

_“What was that all about?” Emi questioned._

_“I’ve been getting all kinds of threats,” Laxus explained. “Everyone apparently caught wind of my exile and think that it’s the best time to attack Fairy Tail.”_

_“Were you that strong of a member?” Emi asked in wonder._

_“Depends on who you ask. I was S-class, so I guess so.”_

_“So what are you going to do about it?”_

_Laxus looked at her confused. She smiled up at him and stood in front of him._

_“You’re going to help your guild, right?”_

_“I told you already that I’m not part of it anymore.”_

_“From what I’ve heard, Fairy Tail treats everyone like family. And I might not know much about anything, but I’m pretty sure there’s no real way to exile a family member. And family protects family. So what are you going to do about it? Someone threatened your family.”_

_“You’re really annoying, you know that?”_

_“Anyway,” Emi said as she ignored the insult, “I heard that Lizard Tongue’s base is somewhere in the forest.”_

_Emi started to walk away, leaving Laxus standing in the middle of the road. He looked at her in wonder before his eyes narrowed._

_“Are you trying to get me killed? That’s an entire dark guild.”_

_“You defeated that dark guild that threatened me, didn’t you? If I recall, you got them in one attack. Plus, you’re S-class, right?”_

_“You’re not coming with me.”_

_Emi smiled to herself before turning around to face Laxus and agreeing, saying that she’d take care of finding an inn. They both went their separate ways._

“You’re telling me that you were the one to start him on that?!” Makarov shouted.

Emi smiled sheepishly before Laxus chimed in.

“Actually, I would’ve done it anyway. I just wasn’t going to do it right then.”

“You two are unbelievable!”

_Emi jumped on one of the beds and landed on her back. She let out a content sigh and closed her eyes. She heard a knock on the door and jumped up to answer it._

_“Why would you knock?” Emi laughed as she faced Laxus standing in the doorway._

_“I don’t know what you do when you’re alone,” Laxus replied simply._

_Emi rolled her eyes, continuing, “So how did it go?”_

_“There were ten of them and they all had swords. Which means,” Laxus drifted off and lifted up his shirt to show a deep gash in his side, “I have to deal with this now.”_

_Emi gasped before reaching into her bag and pulling out a first aid kit. She rushed over to Laxus and gently touched his side. Laxus didn’t even flinch when she touched the wound._

_“Do you just not feel anything?”_

_“I’ve had worse injuries.”_

_Emi focused on the wound and used the disinfectant to clean it out before wrapping his side in bandages._

_“Are you sure you’re okay?” Emi pushed._

_“I’m fine. And Fairy Tail will be now too.”_

_Emi beamed at Laxus before harshly poking his side. Laxus still didn’t flinch._

_“Damn. How do you do that?” Emi muttered._

\--------------------------------------------------------

_“It’s...too far. Can’t...walk any farther.”_

_Laxus turned around to face the short woman and huffed, “We’ve only been walking for twenty minutes.”_

_“You should carry me,” Emi stated seriously._

_“Absolutely not. Hurry up. We have to be in Tuly Village by tomorrow morning.”_

_Emi stopped walking and crossed her arms. Laxus noticed and mirrored her._

“You guys sure have a lot of staredowns,” Mira commented. 

“That’s because he’s stubborn,” Emi responded coolly.

“Yeah and she’s a pain in the ass.”

_“Please? My feet hurt.”_

_“We’ve been walking for twenty minutes.”_

_“You said that already. That doesn’t mean I can’t be tired.”_

_Emi decided to take matters into her own hands and jump on his back. Laxus growled and waited for her to fall off, but she wrapped her legs around him to steady herself._

_“Get. Off.”_

_“No!”_

_Laxus sighed before holding her thighs and adjusting her. Emi cheered as he began to walk again._


	108. The Problem

_It had been six months since Laxus and Emi met, and they continued to travel to the towns in Fiore and do random jobs to help the townspeople. Somewhere along the way, Emi had suggested that they wear cloaks in order to avoid any trouble and unwanted conversation, as she had seen that Laxus would usually get recognized and stared at. With the cloaks on, they were able to travel through towns without running into trouble. Emi had not recovered her memory at all, and Laxus continued to stay by her side._

_“We should stay in Hargeon.”_

_Laxus looked over at her before asking her why, pointing out that that was the farthest location from where they were then._

_“I don’t know. I just feel like we should. Besides, it’s fishing season, which means the older fishermen are going to need help carrying their catches off the boat.”_

_Laxus shrugged before walking in the direction of Hargeon. He was stopped by Emi pushing back on his chest._

_“Oh no you don’t,” Emi scolded. “We’re taking the train. It’s way too far to walk.”_

_“We don’t need the train. We’ve gone six months without it. Why start now?”_

_“Because I’m sick of walking. It’s going to take us days to get to your next job if we walk.”_

_Laxus glared at her for a few seconds, but saw tha exhaustion in her eyes. She looked like she was about to collapse._

_“Hey, uh, are you okay?” Laxus asked, concerned._

_Emi made eye contact with Laxus before she felt herself falling backwards. She made a “thud” on the ground before Laxus could catch her._

_“Crap. Hey brat, wake up!”_

_Emi didn’t respond, and Laxus started to worry. He looked around and picked her up before tossing her on his back._

_“Jeez. You could’ve at least told me you were this tired.”_

_The lightning mage made his way back to town and checked into an inn. He placed her on the bed and tossed a blanket on her. She started whimpering, signalling that she was sleeping and not passed out anymore. Her whimpers soon turned to screams as she writhed in her sleep. Laxus sighed before walking over to her._

_“Hey brat, knock it off.”_

_“Ar...thur.”_

_“Huh?”_

_Emi started screaming again, her body heating up. Laxus tried to shake her, but her body was so hot that he burned his hand._

_“Ow. What the hell?”_

_Emi’s eyes snapped open and she ran to the bathroom, reaching it just in time to vomit into the toilet. Laxus could hear her coughing from the other room and wandered over to the doorframe._

_“You mind telling me what’s going on?”_

_“I...I don’t know. I just feel so h…”_

_Before she could finish her sentence, she collapsed again, just barely avoiding hitting her head on the toilet. Laxus rushed over to her and scooped her up and placed her back on the bed. His eyes were filled with anxiety as he heard her struggling to breathe normally._

_“This guy’s gonna kill me if I let her get hurt,” Laxus groaned. “Man, this whole situation sucks.”_

_Laxus fastened his cloak and ventured out to the town in search of a doctor. He finally found one and brought him back to the inn._

_“My, you were right. She’s burning up. Perhaps a fever?”_

_“Ar...thur.”_

_The doctor turned to Laxus and gave a knowing smile before mentioning, “I think she’s calling for you. You better come here.”_

_“My name’s not Arthur, doc.”_

_“Oh,” the doctor looked down and chuckled nervously, “well that puts me in an awkward situation.”_

_Laxus raised an eyebrow at the doctor before it clicked in his head. He huffed before explaining that they weren’t in a relationship and that he shouldn’t worry. The doctor breathed out in relief before trying to help Emi’s fever._

_“Say, has she gone through any stressful situations lately?”_

_“Like what?”_

_“Well it could be anything from being outside for too long to something like an emotional tragedy like death. Did anything happen lately?”_

_“Not that I know of. We’ve been traveling for a long time, and there’s been no deaths.”_

_“I see. I believe that the constant movement might have weakened her immune system incredibly. How often do you travel?”_

_“...Every day.”_

_“Do you do an overwhelming amount of walking?”_

_Laxus stayed silent. The doctor nodded in understanding._

_“You two should really consider cutting down on how much you travel on foot. Perhaps a carriage or train ride would suit you better right now. By the looks of it, she will probably be sick for a while until her body recovers from all the strenuous activity. I would suggest staying in one place for a while.”_

_The doctor left, leaving Laxus to stare at the ground. He looked over to Emi’s shaking form and noticed the sweat dripping from her forehead. He felt guilty. Anyone could probably see that from looking at his face. He placed a wet cloth on her forehead and sat beside her in a chair._

_“Don’t get too sick, okay brat? I don’t feel like getting murdered.”_

_He felt a weight on his hand and saw that Emi had reached over to him. He whipped his hand back as he hissed at the burning sensation. Emi’s hand grasped at air before falling back onto the sheets._

_“Just be okay.”_

\---------------------------------------------

_It had been a week since Emi had fallen ill, and she showed minimal signs of recovery. She was able to sit up, but she would fall whenever she tried to walk. Laxus kept disappearing during the day. Emi assumed it was for some jobs that he was able to find in the town. Emi’s immune system was very weak, and she had caught a cold on top of her condition._

_Laxus opened the door to the room and stepped inside._

_“Let’s go.”_

_“But the doctor said--”_

_“I don’t care. Come on, I’ll even carry you.”_

_Emi smiled weakly at the dragon slayer before forcing herself to sit up on the bed. Laxus carefully placed her on his back and held her legs so she wouldn’t fall. They started walking towards the forest, causing Emi to sigh._

_“Where are we going now? Are we still headed to Shirotsume?”_

_“You’ll see.”_

_They walked in silence before Emi realized something and spoke, “Wait. Isn’t the road that way?”_

_Laxus remained silent as he continued walking. They eventually came to a clearing in the forest. Emi had fallen asleep by this point, her ragged breaths against his neck._

“Hey that’s your house!” Natsu shouted. 

_“Brat, you okay?”_

_Emi shifted in her sleep and weakly raised her head before stuttering out, “I’ll be fine. Where...are we? I’ve never seen this place before.”_

_Laxus smirked and responded, “Good. That’s the point. We’ll be safe here.”_

_“What...are you talking about?” Emi asked before she started coughing._

_Laxus looked over his shoulder in concern before he continued towards the house that was sitting in the clearing. Emi looked around, her eyes feeling heavy. She went to speak, but Laxus beat her to it._

_“It certainly wasn’t cheap, but I think that it’s gonna work.”_

_Emi’s eyes landed on the house and stared at it for a minute before she seemed to understand._

_“So this is…”_

_“Welcome home, I guess.”_

_A bright smile appeared on Emi’s face as she jumped off Laxus and immediately started to look through the windows._

_“Holy shit. It’s so big!”_

_Laxus’s eyes twitched as he watched the girl move like she wasn’t ill at all._

_“Did you seriously fake your weakness today so that I would carry you?”_

_“Laxus, look at it! Isn’t it great?”_

_He went to scold her, but she had quickly fallen to her knees and started coughing. Laxus’s eyes widened and rushed over to her once again after he saw blood._

_“I’m okay,” Emi spoke, trying to convince him that he didn’t need to worry._

_He went over to the front door and unlocked it before picking her up again and walking inside._

_“Hey,” Emi weakly joked, “you’re not supposed to carry me over the threshold like this until we’re married.”_

_“Shut up.”_


	109. Mission: Acquired

_“We should decorate,” Emi stated simply._

_“Why don’t you get better first before we start doing anything?”_

_Emi giggled before trying to get out of bed. She wobbled a bit before falling backwards. Laxus caught her and gently placed her back on the bed._

_“You shouldn’t be moving too much yet. You’re still too weak.”_

_Emi pouted, “This is so boring. I wanna explore the house and all I’ve seen is this room and the bathroom down the hall. I haven’t even seen the kitchen yet!”_

_“That’s because,” Laxus reminded as he pulled the covers over her again, “you’re sick and you need to recover before you move a lot.”_

_Emi's eyes drifted to the floor and she started to sniffle._

_“I feel so useless. I’m so sorry.”_

_Laxus started to panic as he looked at the distraught girl._

_“Uh…”_

_She started to cry harder, which caused Laxus to panic more. He took in a breath and tried his best to comfort her._

_“I mean you’re not **completely** useless right now--”_

“Laxus! That’s so mean!” Mira scolded.

Laxus defended, “Hey! I didn’t know how to be nice.”

_He sighed thinking that he made it worse and got up to leave._

_“...You really think so?”_

_He stopped and looked at her confused._

_“I’m not completely useless? That’s what you said, right?”_

_“That...actually worked?” Laxus mumbled to himself before walking back over to the bed._

“How on earth did that work?” Lucy shouted. “That was horrible!”

_“Uh, yeah. You do stuff, like, uh...keep me company?”_

_Emi sat up quickly, causing her to let out a small wince. She smiled brightly at the lightning wizard._

_“You enjoy my company?” Emi asked with an excited expression._

_Laxus rolled his eyes at the girl before going to leave the room._

_“I’ll be back with food.”_

_Emi giggled and called after him as he walked down the hall, “Big baby.”_

\-------------------------------------------

_“Hey Laxus?”_

_Said wizard grunted in response._

_“Can you cuddle with me?”_

_Laxus spit out his water and started choking._

_“ **What** did you just ask?”_

_“I’m lonely and cold. I just wanted to know if you would cuddle with me to make me warm.”_

_“Absolutely not. I’ll get another blanket.”_

_Emi frowned and buried herself in the four blankets she already was given earlier that day._

Lucy, Lisanna and Mira laughed. 

“How many times did you ask him that day?”

_Laxus came in with another blanket and threw it over her. He went to leave when her voice squeaked out from under the blankets._

_“Will you at least stay here? You didn’t solve the ‘lonely’ part at all.”_

_Laxus huffed before pulling his chair to his usual spot next to the bed. They sat in silence. Laxus struggled to keep his eyes open, as he had slept very little in the past week from trying to tend to Emi. His eyes started shutting on their own and his breathing would slow. Emi peeked her head from under the blankets and rolled her eyes._

_“You could always just lay down and sleep here. You’d still be by me if I need you.”_

_“No.”_

_“It beats sleeping in an uncomfortable folding chair, don’t you think?”_

_Emi could feel the stare that Laxus was giving her, but she just smiled to herself and poked her head back into the cocoon. They sat there in silence as Laxus continued to stare down the bed. Emi heard Laxus get up from the chair, and she silently cheered to herself. Her excitement quickly died down as she heard his footsteps leave the room. She unwrapped herself from the blankets and glared at the door._

All the girls let out a disappointed sigh. 

_“Really?!”_

_She huffed and threw herself down, angrily tucking herself into the blankets. She muttered to herself before forcing her eyes shut. Moments later she felt the bed dip, causing her to jump at the sudden change. She poked her head out and saw that Laxus was sitting there with what looked like another blanket from the hall closet and his pillow. She smiled brightly before urging him to lay down. He reluctantly did so._

_“Before you even start,” Laxus chided, “you are **not** coming over to my side.”_

_“What’s the point of it then?”_

_“What the hell are you talking about?”_

_Emi retreated back into her cocoon before scooting the whole thing closer to Laxus._

_“Hey, what did I just say?”_

_“Just for ten minutes? Please?”_

_“Why are you so persistent with this?”_

_“Because I don’t know who I am, I’ve been traveling nonstop with a stranger, I got so sick that I can’t move, and I have no one else. So I would like to have someone stay with me while I deal with all that.”_

_Laxus scoffed. Emi continued to scoot closer to him until she was right next to him. Laxus let out a “tsk” and then went silent._

_“Are you feeling any better since yesterday?” Laxus asked, concerned._

_“Not really,” Emi truthfully responded. “But a hug a day keeps the sickness away!”_

_Laxus turned from his back to his side so he was facing her._

_“Did you seriously just say that?”_

_Emi poked her head out from the blankets again and giggled. She lifted his arm up in the air and let it fall on her._

_“What do you think you’re doing?”_

_“You said you would cuddle.”_

_“I never said that.”_

_Laxus’s eyes started to close on their own again, but he refused to sleep. Emi loosened the blanket cocoon and scooted closer before her breathing slowed and she drifted off. Laxus huffed before looking down at her sleeping form. He studied her face for a minute before resting his head on the pillow and eventually fell asleep._

\-----------------------------------------------------------

_Emi opened her eyes to see that Laxus was snoring softly and had his arm resting over her still. She giggled and gently shook him. He groaned before lazily opening his eyes and looking down. He was met with a soft smile from Emi. He blushed before retracting his arm and sitting up._

_“There. I did what you wanted. Are you better now, brat?”_

_Emi ripped the blankets off her and jumped out of bed._

_“You shouldn’t be moving like that! You’ll hurt yourself.”_

_“But I gotta pee.”_

_Laxus rolled his eyes as Emi left to go to the bathroom. He started to make the bed and take his pillow back to his room when he was met with Emi standing in front of him._

_“Where are you going?” Emi inquired._

_“To put this back and then make breakfast.”_

_“But you said you would--”_

_“That deal was nullified as soon as you left the bed. Now shoo.”_

_Emi puffed her cheeks out before stepping aside and walking back to her bed with her head hung low. She seemed to think of something because she turned to where Laxus was standing and shouted down the hall._

_“Can I see downstairs now?”_

_Laxus shouted back, “You’re still not better. Heal first.”_

_She padded down the hallway and went to what she assumed to be Laxus’s room._

_“Holy shit,” she breathed. “This room is huge!”_

_Laxus appeared behind her and crossed his arms before asking what she was doing. She ignored him and ran over to his bed and started jumping on it._

_“What the hell? Knock it off! You’re gonna get hurt.”_

_“But Laxus, this is such a big room!”_

_“Well yeah. It’s the main bedroom.”_

_“Why do you get the biggest one?” Emi pouted._

_Laxus walked over to the side of the bed and gently took her arm and guided her back to the floor. He gave a quick smirk._

_“Because I called it first.”_

_“That’s so not fair! I didn’t even know about it!”_


	110. Mission: Failed

_“Can I go see downstairs now? I’m feeling a lot better.”_

_“You can’t even walk down the hallway without falling.”_

_“I have an idea!”_

_“What would that be--”_

_Laxus was cut off by Emi jumping onto his back. She hooked her legs around his waist and wrapped her arms loosely around his neck._

_“You can carry me!”_

_“No. Get off.”_

_“No! I wanna see downstairs!”_

Sting chuckled as he watched her unmatched energy and happiness. He looked over to her and saw that she was laughing at herself as well. 

_“Listen brat, I’m not going to--”_

_“Please? I feel so trapped up here. I just wanna see it. Then I promise I’ll come back up and stay here until I feel better.”_

_Laxus sighed before steadying her legs and walking towards the stairs, causing Emi to start cheering. He rolled his eyes as he made his way to the main level. He walked into the kitchen and motioned in front of him._

_“See? This is the kitchen. It has a fridge and stove, as well as a sink.”_

_Emi giggled at his bluntness._

_“That’s a big table,” Emi observed._

_“Yeah, it kinda came with the house, so I took it. This way we didn’t have to buy another one.”_

_“It’s great! It means that we can have a bunch of people over.”_

_“Anyway,” Laxus said as he didn’t acknowledge her statement, “that’s all there is to the kitchen.”_

_Emi nodded and continued to scan the room. She heard a small hum, so she leaned her head down next to Laxus’s._

_“You wanna see the living room?”_

_Emi enthusiastically nodded before wrapping her arms back around his neck as he started to move. They entered a room with a couple of couches and rocking chairs. There was a wooden coffee table and a beige rug. Emi spotted something in the corner._

_“Hey, what’s that?”_

_Laxus turned her around and started to walk out of the living room and showed her the lower level bathroom. Emi kept pushing for Laxus to go back, but he kept walking towards the stairs._

_“No! I wanna see what it was,” she whined._

_“It’s for later.”_

_Emi let out a soft “huh?” before she started to squirm. Laxus had a firm grasp on her legs, so she didn’t really accomplish anything._

_“Fine,” Laxus eventually grunted before turning back around and setting her down in front of the large box. “This was supposed to be a housewarming gift or whatever. I figured we could put it in your room.”_

_Emi scanned the box for an indication as to what it was. She found a diagram on the side of the box and gasped._

_“A bookcase?!”_

_Laxus rolled his eyes before explaining that there was a bookstore in town and that she would need somewhere to put all her books because she, as Laxus said before, “lived in books.”_

_“This is the best present ever! Can we build it now?” Emi excitedly questioned._

_“You’re still ill. Maybe later.”_

_Emi sighed and stood up before walking back over to Laxus. She gave the lightning mage a tight hug, making Laxus flinch slightly. She thanked him before walking over to the stairs. He met her there and leaned down so she could jump on his back again. Once they were back upstairs, Emi walked back into her room. Laxus let out a breath and went to go to the bathroom. When he exited the bathroom, he saw a flash of someone running past him holding a blanket and pillow running towards his room. He heard the door shut._

_“Hey! Get back to your room!” Laxus yelled as he stomped over to his bedroom._

_He went to turn the knob, but he found that the door was locked._

_“Get out of my room, brat!”_

_“No!” Emi yelled from inside. “I like this room better. I’m moving in here.”_

_Laxus’s eyes twitched before he continued to bang on the door._

_“Fine, I’ll let you in,” Emi sighed, “ **but** you have to allow me to sleep in here sometimes.”_

_“Why the hell would I do that?”_

_“Because it’s only fair. You have the biggest bedroom, so you should share.”_

_“That makes no sense.”_

“Yeah it really doesn’t,” Cana slurred.

Lector waved his paw in the air and stated, “It makes perfect sense, yes.”

“Of course you would agree with her,” Lucy muttered. “You have the same logic.”

_“Then I guess it’s all mine!” Emi exclaimed before she started to laugh maniacally._

_Laxus rolled his eyes and leaned against the wall. He made fake steps away from the door so that it would sound like he was walking away. He could hear Emi giggling from inside before she jumped off the bed and cracked the door open to see where he went. As soon as the door opened, Laxus slid his hand into the crack and pushed it open all the way, Emi weakly pushing back to try to close the door. Laxus had successfully opened it all the way and crossed his arms as he stood in the doorway._

_“That’s so not fair,” Emi whined. “You played dirty.”_

_Laxus smirked before commenting, “So did you when you sprinted into my room while I wasn’t looking.”_

_Emi pouted before stepping back over to the bed and hopping on it. She pulled her blanket over her and placed her head on the pillow she brought._

_“That doesn’t mean you can stay here,” Laxus irritably stated._

_Emi turned around so that she was facing him and smiled weakly before shyly replying, “Well you see, the thing is that I used up a lot of energy to get here and now I can’t really move that well…”_

_“Unbelievable.”_

_“But if you let me stay here, you can cuddle me!” Emi happily chimed in._

_Laxus stayed silent before walking over to the bed. Emi cheered to herself._

Sting looked towards Laxus with a deadly look. Laxus just looked at him with a bored expression.

_Suddenly, Emi felt herself being lifted off the bed. Laxus carried her out of the room and placed her down on her bed._

_“What--”_

_Laxus gave her a smug look before grabbing her blanket and pillow from his room and dropping them next to her on the bed._

_“That’s so unfair!”_


	111. Emi's First Job

_It had been about a month since Emi had gotten sick, and she had mostly recovered. She was able to go up and down the stairs by herself, so she wandered through the house to explore more. She heard Laxus sigh from the kitchen and made her way over to him to see that he was glaring at the open fridge._

_“I have to go on a job. We have no food and no money.”_

_“Alight! I can’t wait to see where we go--”_

_“You’re not coming. You’re still weak.”_

_“No, I’m not. I’ve been able to move around and stay awake.”_

_“You’re staying here. Once you’re cleared by the doctor, you might be able to come.”_

_“Well then let’s get to the doctor!” Emi shouted happily._

_“We have no money,” Laxus reminded._

_Emi sighed before stalking back up the stairs. She heard Laxus leave for town. She started to laugh mischievously. Once she heard the front door close she took her pillow and padded down the hallway. Laxus’s bedroom door creaked open as she slipped inside. She walked over to the window to make sure Laxus had left when she was met with his glare from outside the house._

_“Get out of my room,” Laxus scolded from the window._

_Emi smiled at him before waving him off and happily jumping on the bed and falling asleep._

\--------------------------------------------------

_“So what kind of job did you get?”_

_“It’s just a Vulcan job for Mount Hakobe. Should be easy enough. It doesn’t pay much though.”_

_Emi nodded before turning to go into the kitchen. She was making soup for dinner._

_“I picked up a job for you too.”_

_Emi turned around confused and tilted her head before pointing to herself, “Me?”_

_Laxus handed her a flyer that had a reward posted on it._

_“It’s a sorting job at the bookstore. You’d be paid like a regular request. I figured you could get out of the house and help--”_

_“Thank you! This is great! I can’t believe I can actually go on a job. This is going to be so exciting. And it’s a bookshop! How cool is--”_

_“Hey, quit it.”_

_She turned to Laxus and happily hugged him. He tensed._

_“Knock it off, brat.”_

_She bolted towards the door and grabbed her shoes and cloak. Laxus laughed quietly at her spontaneous energy before looking back over to the stove._

_“You’re forgetting the soup.”_

_“Oh!” Emi yelled as she stood over the pot again. “I guess I just got overexcited.”_

\----------------------------------------------------

_“Okay,” Emi spoke to herself as she looked at the countless piles of books that stood in front of her. “How should I organize?”_

_She eventually settled on organizing the authors alphabetically. After going through the piles, Emi decided to start putting them in different piles for each letter. It took about three hours to do that, and Emi was exhausted. She took a small break, opening up a book on earth magic and scanning the pages._

_“Wow, earth magic sounds so cool. I wish I could do that.”_

_She continued to flip through the pages when a spell caught her eye._

_“Woah! This one breaks apart the ground! That’s amazing!” Emi shouted as she looked at the page for the Fissure spell._

“You didn’t even recognize your own spell?” Natsu shouted. “That’s awful!”

_Emi read the book for a while longer before she looked back to the piles of books. She sighed before picking herself off the floor and starting to organize each pile alphabetically. Another three hours went by, and she was finally finished. She stood proudly in front of the huge shelves that now held all the books._

_“My my,” the bookshop owner started, “it seems you have a real skill for this.”_

_Emi smiled at the man. He led her back to the front of the store and handed over the reward that he had advertised. He looked around at the shop before turning back to her._

_“Tell you what. Since you did such a great job, I’ll give you one book for free.”_

_Emi’s eyes sparkled, and she ran over to the earth magic book she was looking at before.The shopkeeper laughed before commenting that it seemed that she already knew where everything was. He waved her off as she started to walk back to the house. She opened the door and announced that she was back in case Laxus had arrived before her. She was met with silence, so she shrugged and flopped down on the couch and started reading again._

\------------------------------------------------

_Emi heard the front door click, signalling that Laxus was home. She called out to him to tell him where she was before going back to reading her book. He entered the living room, absentmindedly tossing his cloak on the chair._

_“How was your job?” Emi asked as she peeked up from her book._

_“Boring. There were only two Vulcans.”_

_Emi giggled and put her book down. She walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge to see that there was barely any food._

_“I guess you weren’t kidding when you said there wasn’t much food,” Emi laughed._

_“You used what we had left to make that soup. I’ll be heading to the market in an hour to get more if you want to make a list.”_

_“I’m coming. You need someone to help you carry everything all the way back here.”_

_Laxus shrugged before grabbing a piece of paper and making a list. About an hour later, Laxus and Emi started to walk through the forest back to town._

_“So what do you think of having a fish stew? I read about it in a cookbook somewhere and--”_

_“No offense, but that sounds absolutely disgusting.”_

_Emi giggled before shrugging her shoulders._

_“Well then what would you like to eat?”_

_“Anything but that.”_

_They had made their way into the heart of Hargeon and wandered through the market, occasionally picking up ingredients. They had an armful of food, so they headed back through the town to get to the forest. They passed by a building that was gated off by shrubs, sparking Emi’s curiosity._

_“Can we look over there?” Emi asked as she pointed to the shrubs._

_Laxus shrugged and drifted over to the shrubs to see that there was a small flower garden hidden inside. Emi gasped before running inside._

_“You’re gonna drop the food and then I’ll kill you,” Laxus scolded._

_Emi slowly spun around to take in all the flowers. She felt like she was home there in the gardens. She felt at peace._

_“Let’s go,” Laxus demanded._

_“But Laxus, look at--”_

_“We need to get back before it gets dark out. I don’t feel like dragging groceries around in the dark.”_

_Emi looked to the ground before taking one last look at the gardens and following Laxus back to the forest._

_“Can we go back after we put everything away?”_

_“For what?”_

_Emi puffed her cheeks before reminding him of the flower gardens._

_“Why would you want to? There’s way too much pollen in there.”_

_“I just...felt comfortable there,” Emi mumbled._

_Laxus looked at her and raised an eyebrow before his bored demeanor came back._

_“Didn’t think you were into flowers, brat.”_

_“Of course I am! I like flowers and frogs and the color yellow. And I like books and…”_

_Laxus looked over at her and saw that she had drifted off and was looking towards the ground with a sad look._

_“That’s all you can remember, right?” Laxus asked softly._

_“That’s not true! I know so much more! Like...my name and, um, the fact that you’re my friend?” Emi weakly said._

_Laxus stared at her for a minute before his eyes widened when she started to sniffle._

_“Uh…”_

_“I’m not crying at all! Not a bit!”_

“Oh boy.”

“I feel really bad. I wouldn’t know how to feel in that situation.”

_Emi sniffled again before continuing through the forest. She looked back to the tall wizard and motioned to continue. Laxus slowly walked by her side, glancing over at her every so often to make sure she was okay. They had eventually arrived at the house and set down the groceries on the counter. Emi kept her head down as she walked up the stairs and closed her bedroom door. Laxus silently put away the food before walking to her door. He lightly knocked._

_“Uh, you okay?”_

_Laxus listened closely and heard that she was still crying. He creaked the door open and saw that she was laying with her head covered by a pillow. He slowly walked over to her and sat down on the bed beside her._

_“Uh, anything I can do?”_

_Emi peeked from the pillow and shook her head._

_“I just...can’t remember. No matter how hard I try. And I was so alone for over a year and nobody ever helped me. I was so afraid and helpless. I just don’t want to ever go back there again.”_

_Laxus stayed silent for a minute before looking straight ahead as he spoke._

_“How about I promise you something then.”_

_“Promise something?”_

_“I’ll stay by your side until you recover your memories, and I’ll protect you until you don’t need it anymore.”_

_Emi fully uncovered herself from the pillows and blankets and looked at him. He noticed how vulnerable she looked._

_“You promise? You won’t leave?”_

_“Promise.”_

_“Laxus?”_

_He looked down at her, waiting for her to continue._

_“Can I stay in your room tonight?”_

_Laxus huffed, causing Emi to giggle._


	112. Sleepover! Emi Style

_“Sleepover! Sleepover!” Emi sang as she gathered her blankets and moved them into Laxus’s room._

_“If you keep screaming the deal is off,” Laxus hissed._

_Emi sprinted into the room and threw her blankets on the bed._

“Juvia thinks Emi seems so much happier and more energetic than when she had her memories.”

“Wouldn’t you if you didn’t remember everyone dying?” Cana chimed in.

_Laxus followed her into the room and grabbed some clothes from his dresser and walked into the bathroom._

_“Oh right! PJs!” Emi gasped as she started to change._

_“Okay brat we can do this two ways. First one is--”_

_Emi and Laxus looked at each other with wide eyes._

_“Uh, never mind. Call me when you’re, uh, dressed.”_

Sting growled and turned to Laxus to yell at him, but Emi grabbed his hand and pulled him back.

“It was just no pants, Sting. Besides, he didn’t mean it.”

_Emi stood there for a second before snapping out of it and quickly putting on some sleep pants and opening the door to call Laxus. He came back and walked over to the bed without looking at her._

_“Oh come on, you big baby. It wasn’t that bad.”_

_“I’m not getting killed.”_

_“Huh?”_

_Laxus waved it off and sat on the bed._

_“We should play a game! It’s not a sleepover unless there’s a game.”_

_“Brat, are you forgetting that we live together? It’s nothing different.”_

_“Nonsense!” Emi screamed as she pointed a finger at the lightning wizard. “We still need a game. I know, we can play the secret game!”_

_“You don’t remember enough to have any secrets,” he reminded, bored._

_Emi puffed her cheeks and crossed her arms, speaking sarcastically, “Okay then, mister buzzkill, what do you suggest?”_

_Laxus thought for a minute before a smirk appeared on his face, saying, “I have the perfect game.”_

_Emi’s eyes sparkled as she waited for his explanation. He continued to smirk as he walked over to her and picked her up. She started laughing and squirming as he carried her over to the bed and placed her down._

“I **will** kill you,” Sting threatened.

Laxus rolled his eyes and looked at him with a flat expression. 

_Laxus leaned in so his face was close to hers and whispered, “It’s called the ‘get to sleep or you don’t get any more sleepovers’ game.”_

_Emi groaned in disappointment before mumbling, “Here I thought you actually had a game. I got excited for nothing. Thanks a lot.”_

_The dragon slayer opened the blankets on his side and silently slipped in. He was able to close his eyes when he felt something on his back._

_“No. Get over to the other side.”_

_“But I don’t like it over there.”_

_“What the fuck are you talking about? It’s the same thing as this side.”_

_He groaned when he felt her inch closer. He turned his head over his shoulder to scold her._

_“Are you always this clingy with people?_

_“I don’t really know the answer to that.”_

_“If you are then he really has a hard job to stop you, doesn’t he?”_

_“Who are you talking about?”_

_“No one. Just myself,” Laxus droned as he started to drift asleep._

_His eyes snapped open when he felt her head rest on his back._

_“Knock it off.”_

_He didn’t get a response, signalling that she was asleep, so he started thinking out loud._

_“I know that it’s definitely not Natsu because he’s too much of an idiot--”_

“Hey! I am not!”

“On the contrary Natsu,” Erza corrected, “I agree with the fact that you don’t have the personality to go through with something like that.”

“Yeah well he did and everyone says he’s like me,” Natsu mumbled. 

_“It’s not me, and I doubt it’s that Gajeel guy. What other dragon slayers are there though?” Laxus wondered before he heard Emi start to whimper, causing him to groan, “Really? Again? Hey brat, wake up.”_

_Emi continued to whimper, so Laxus got out of bed and crossed his arms at her sleeping figure._

“Don’t tell me you left her again, Laxus,” Mira scolded. 

_Laxus seemed to get an idea, as he walked down the stairs to the living room. He spotted their cloaks and his coat. He reentered the bedroom and tossed the cloaks on top of her. She was silent for a minute before she started to hiss in her sleep, causing Laxus to raise an eyebrow before tossing his coat on her. She seemed to calm down slightly before she went quiet._

_“Weird.”_

“It’s no wonder why it calmed you down, kid.”

“What do you mean, Mr. Cain?” Wendy questioned. 

“I would always drape my cloak over her when she couldn’t sleep. It’s how she grew up.”

“Oh yeah,” Emi concluded as she smiled, “I guess you’re right.”

_Laxus didn’t question it further, opting to crawl back into bed and stay as far away from her as possible. He “tsk”ed when he felt her scoot closer. Emi hummed as she buried her face into both his coat and his back._

_“You’re a pain in the ass.”_

\-------------------------------------------------------------

_Emi sang to herself as she began to make breakfast. Laxus came down the stairs and yawned as he made his way over to his seat at the table._

_“Good morning! I’m making pancakes.”_

_“This is a change,” Laxus joked. “It’s usually the other way around.”_

_Emi giggled, “Well I’m all better, so I can start doing stuff around here.”_

_She quickly finished cooking the pancakes and threw them on plates. She slid a plate towards Laxus and set another one at her usual seat._

_“What do you want for a drink?”_

_“I can get the drinks. You sit and start eating.”_

_Emi shrugged before stretching in the chair. Laxus brought two glasses of water over to the table. He thanked her and took a bite. He immediately started coughing, reaching over for the glass of water and downing it._

_“What the fuck did you put in that?!”_

_“I didn’t! Oh no, is it that bad?”_

_“YES.”_

_Emi looked at the pancake and took a deep breath in before taking her own bite. She raised her eyebrow at the lightning mage._

_“I don’t taste anything.”_

_“HOW?!”_

“I see your training has paid off,” Cain remarked. 

“Yeah, _thanks_ ,” Laxus sarcastically responded. 

_“It’s just a pancake, Laxus. I don’t get what the big deal is.”_

_“Show me what exactly you put in it.”_

_Emi led him over to the counter and pointed out the pancake batter._

_“It’s just the usual.”_

_“What the fuck is that?”_

_Emi followed his finger and rolled her eyes, overdramatically picking it up and saying, “That’s just hot sauce, Laxus.”_

_“You mean to tell me,” Laxus tested, “that you put hot sauce in the pancakes?”_

_“Of course.”_

_Laxus let out a breath before taking the hot sauce bottle and putting it back._

_“You’re not allowed to cook anymore.”_

_“What? Why?”_

\-----------------------

_“I’m going into town. I’ll be back.”_

_“Hm? Where?” Laxus inquired._

_“I was hoping to find a job. Maybe I can help in the gardens!”_

_Laxus nodded and watched her leave._

_“I’m not gonna be here when you get back. I have to do something.”_

_“Oh? Going to beat a big scary dark guild?” Emi joked._

_“Yes.”_

_Emi went to close the door when she processed his answer. She slowly stepped backwards back inside the house and asked him if he was serious._

_“I heard rumors that a branch was planning to post a bunch of fake job requests in Fairy Tail to lure them to an ambush.”_

_Emi laughed as she spoke, “Well just be careful. I don’t want to get blamed if something happened to you.”_

_“Yeah, yeah.”_

\-----------------------------------------------------

_Emi slowly walked through the forest and into town. She skipped as she hummed to herself. Once she was able to get to town, she met someone at the docks._

_“Oh thank goodness you came!” An older woman yelled. “I was starting to think I would be doing this myself.”_

_Emi smiled at her before helping the woman carry the buckets of flowers back to her house. They were able to finish rather quickly, and the woman gave Emi her reward. Emi waved goodbye and started back through town when she passed the flower gardens. She stopped before turning back around and entering the gardens. Her eyes sparkled and a bright smile appeared on her face._

_“I’m sure Laxus wouldn’t mind if I came here without him,” Emi reasoned. “He’s probably not even back yet.”_

_Emi ended up spending two hours at the gardens before she looked up to see that it was getting dark. She let out a small “uh oh” before standing up and heading back to the house. She accidentally bumped into someone, so she stopped and went to apologize, but she didn’t see anyone._

_“Uh? I’m very sorry, mister shadow,” Emi apologized as she bowed at the darkness._

Everyone sweatdropped. Emi laughed nervously.

_“Please don’t call me that,” a voice spoke._

_Emi jumped at the voice and looked around. She eventually saw an outline of a figure._

_“Oh. I’m really sorry for bumping into you, but I have to go! Bye!”_

“That’s…”

“You’re telling me that we were in Hargeon at the same time? That Rogue had already met you? That I didn’t even smell you at all?! What the hell!”

“Sting--”

“Why couldn’t I smell you?” Sting weakly asked nobody. 

“I...don’t know.”

_Emi silently entered the house to see that Laxus was asleep on the couch. She giggled before going into the fridge and getting an apple. She shuffled into the living room and crouched down next to Laxus. She started to poke his forehead before laughing to herself and standing up. She quietly climbed the stairs and grabbed her blanket before giggling mischievously and running into Laxus’s room and jumping on the bed._

_About two hours later, Emi heard a scoff from the bedroom door. She felt someone standing over her, so she groggily opened her eyes. She gave a lazy smile when she saw that Laxus wore an annoyed expression._

_“Please?”_

_“Why do you insist on doing this every night?”_

_Emi just giggled and covered herself back up in blankets. Laxus scoffed again before Emi felt a weight on the bed. She eventually heard slow breathing, and she smiled in victory as she realized that he had fallen asleep._


	113. Emi's Trip

_“Do you think we could go into town today?”_

_Laxus looked up from the paper and raised an eyebrow._

_“Why? We have food and enough money to last the week.”_

_“I wanted to see if we could go into the flower gardens,” Emi sheepishly replied._

_Laxus looked back to the newspaper and set it down before stretching. He walked past Emi and up the stairs. Emi gave a pronounced sigh and lowered her head. The lightning wizard reappeared with his cloak._

_“Are you coming or not? Go get your cloak.”_

_Emi looked at him in wonder before smiling and rushing over to the couch and fastening her cloak. She skipped out of the house and started to make her way out of the clearing._

_“Hey, wait up. Let me lock it first.”_

_Emi turned around to face the wizard and put her hands on her hips._

_“Hurry up! I want to see the flowers.”_

_Laxus grumbled under his breath and caught up to her. When they got into town, Emi quickly navigated her way through the people and stood in front of the gardens. She pulled Laxus into the gardens and started talking about the flowers._

_“This one is Artemisia,” Emi pointed out before jumping from patch to patch. “This one is Hyssop and that one is a pansy.”_

_“Nerd.”_

_Emi puffed her cheeks before pulling him further into the gardens. Laxus put up some resistance, but she kept insisting._

_“Isn’t this fun?” Emi happily asked._

_Laxus rolled his eyes before sarcastically replying, “Yeah. Super fun.”_

_“Look at those!” Emi exclaimed before running off._

_“Don’t run off!” Laxus scolded, but she was already out of hearing range._

_She looked at a patch of moonflowers and smiled. She leaned in and closed her eyes and she smelled them. A smile appeared on her face._

_“Excuse me,” Emi started as she approached who seemed to be the gardener, “where would I be able to purchase some of the flowers?”_

_“There’s a flower shop over on the west side of town. I’m sure you’ll find what you’re looking for over there. But in the meantime,” he said as he pointed over to a cart a few feet away, “you should be able to buy some individual flowers over there.”_

_Emi’s eyes sparkled as she thanked the man and skipped over to cart. She asked if there were any moonflowers, and she ended up buying two. After looking around her and not being able to find Laxus, Emi started to wander around. She ended up bumping into Laxus near the back of the gardens._

_“There you are. Don’t do that,” Laxus chided._

_“But look at what I found!” Emi beamed as she shoved the flowers up towards his face._

_Laxus pushed the flowers back down and continued, “That’s no reason to run off. What would happen if you had been kidnapped?”_

_“Kidnapped?” Emi giggled. “Who would possibly want to kidnap me?”_

_“Doesn’t matter. It could still happen.”_

_“Aw,” Emi cooed, “Laxus, you actually care.”_

_He rolled his eyes before grabbing her by her wrist and pulling her out of the gardens. Emi protested a bit before giving up and following him. Once they were out of the gardens, Laxus and Emi started to head back to the house. Something caught the dragon slayer’s eye, and he turned to see an ice cream cart close by. He tried to ignore his stomach, but he ended up guiding Emi to the cart._

_“Ice cream? You’re a genius!” Emi cheered._

_They both ordered their ice cream and began to stroll through the streets of Hargeon. Emi happily ate her ice cream, humming a song quietly to herself. They walked without speaking to each other for about ten minutes when Emi decided to speak up._

_“So what’re we doing now?”_

_“What are you talking about? We’re heading back to the house.”_

_“What? Why?”_

_Laxus pointed to the sky, showing that it was dark out. Emi looked up in shock._

_“We spent three hours at the stupid gardens. It’s time to head back before it gets too late.”_

_“Oh,” Emi breathed, clearly disappointed before she seemed to get an idea. “Well can we come back out tomorrow?”_

_“I have a job I’m going on tomorrow, and it will probably take the whole day--”_

_“Take me with you!”_

_Laxus looked over at her frowned, explaining, “It’s a long job. I don’t think you’d want to be there.”_

_“Well what is it?” Emi pressed._

_“It’s a Vulcan job at Mount Hakobe.”_

_“Again? How many Vulcans are there?”_

_“A lot,” Laxus said simply._

_Emi thought for a minute and jumped in front of the lightning mage before announcing that she would still like to go. Laxus rolled his eyes, called her a pain in the ass, and pushed her closer to the forest._

_“So can I go?”_

_“You better not complain,” Laxus warned. “It gets cold up there.”_

_“I promise!”_

\--------------------------------------------

_“Laxus,” Emi whined. “I’m cold.”_

_Laxus groaned before turning to Emi with a serious look on his face._

_“I told you that you can’t complain.”_

_“But I didn’t realize you meant it was freezing cold. I thought it would be chilly cold.”_

_Laxus gritted his teeth before taking off his coat and throwing it over her._

_“Take that and stop complaining. We’re not even halfway there.”_

_After a while, Laxus was able to smell the Vulcans and guided Emi into a small cave for cover. She heard a couple of Vulcan sounds, a loud crash and then a boom. She crawled out of the cave and ran over to Laxus. Before she could reach him, a Vulcan came up behind her and held her upside down by her ankle._

_“Hey! Let go!”_

_Laxus turned around at the sound of her voice and growled. He aimed a lightning dragon roar over at the Vulcan, Emi gasping as the lightning came rushing towards her. She pressed her eyes shut and waited for the shock, but all she felt was her body falling onto the snow. She opened her eyes to see an irritated Laxus standing over her._

_“Woah,” Emi breathed, completely ignoring the fact that she was supposed to be apologetic, “that was so cool! You totally hit the Vulcan without hitting me at all.”_

_“Are you done? I told you to stay in the cave until I came to get you and you ignored me and put yourself in danger.”_

_Emi laughed nervously before rubbing the back of her head and looking off to the side. She eventually looked him in the eye and gave a small apology._

_“We can get out of the cold now, right?” Emi asked, hopeful._

_Laxus rolled his eyes and started to tug her towards the bottom of the mountain._

\-------------------------------------------------

_“Would you like some hot chocolate?” Emi asked when they got home._

_Laxus seemed to think for a minute before nodding. He hung out his coat and both their cloaks outside to dry and flopped on the couch. Emi came in with two mugs of hot chocolate and sat on the seat opposite him. He took the mug before groaning, heading to the kitchen sink and dumping it out._

_“What’s wrong with it?” Emi fretted._

_Laxus looked over towards the kettle and saw the hot sauce sitting there. He decided to make another cup and eventually rejoined Emi in the living room._

_“You fucking put hot sauce in the hot chocolate.”_

_“Oops.”_

_They both quietly sipped their hot chocolate before Emi leaned back in the seat and closed her eyes. She sighed in content before shifting in the chair so she was sitting sideways with her legs draped over the armrests._

_“Why can’t you just sit normally?”_

_“Because this way is more comfortable,” Emi argued._

_Emi drifted off, her head rolling on the other armrest. Laxus stood up and brought both the mugs to the kitchen, leaving them to be cleaned later. He checked on the cloaks and his coat and brought them back in when he saw that they were dry. After doing that, Laxus looked outside to see that it was starting to get dark, so he made his way back into the living room and threw his coat over Emi as a blanket and climbed up the stairs, entering his room and going to sleep._

_Emi’s eyes fluttered open to see that all the lights were off. She stretched as she stood up and started to look around the main floor._

_“He must be sleeping,” Emi concluded._

_She tiptoed her way up the stairs, cursing when they would creak, and peeked inside Laxus’s room to see that he was laying there asleep. Emi went to her bedroom and jumped on the bed before wrapping herself in her blankets and falling asleep. This only lasted about a half hour, as she was woken by a nightmare. It seemed to leave her shaken, and her body fought her as she tried to go back to sleep._

_“Well, it’s worth a shot,” Emi thought out loud before she grabbed her blanket and quietly stepped to Laxus’s door._

_She could see that he was still sleeping, so she approached the bed with caution as to not wake him. She tried to crawl into the empty side of the bed, but a voice startled her._

_“What do you think you’re doing?” Laxus asked groggily._

_“I, uh, had a bad dream.”_

_“So?”_

_“I was hoping that I could sleep here so I could get to sleep.”_

_“No. Go back to your room. Just sleep with the lights on or whatever.”_

_Emi sighed and turned around, entering her room again and tucking herself into bed. She was able to sleep another hour before she jolted awake again. She whimpered before grabbing her blanket and rushing back to Laxus’s room. She readied herself for his reaction before slowly opening his door._

_“Out.”_

_She continued to whimper, causing Laxus to mumble something incoherent and sit up._

_“You’re gonna keep doing this all night, aren’t you?”_

_“I’m sorry,” Emi pushed out through her tears._

_“Let’s go. Before I change my mind.”_

_Emi gave Laxus a weak smile before crawling into the empty side of the bed and hugging her blankets._

_“Hey Laxus,” Emi whispered, “can I--”_

_“No. Go to sleep.”_


	114. Fall

“This is so cool!” Natsu shouted. “Everything is happening before our eyes. Do you think we can do Lucy next?”

“Why me?! We should do you next.”

“That’s not fun at all,” Natsu pouted. 

“Um,” Levy interrupted, “this spell is really complicated, so I don’t think that we should do it more than this one time. It takes up a lot of magic energy.”

Erza grabbed their attention, saying that there was another memory.

_“Laxus, do you think that I’ll ever recover my memories?”_

_“You better.”_

_Emi giggled before stepping in front of him and going to hug him._

_“Absolutely not,” Laxus barked as he stepped backwards._

_Emi rolled her eyes while smiling and put her hands up in defeat. She walked past him and made her way into the kitchen to start cooking dinner._

_“Are you okay with having grilled fish?” Emi called out._

_Laxus shouted back from the living room, “Sure. Whatever works.”_

_Emi hummed and started to prepare the fish before Laxus appeared behind her. She jumped when she turned around and saw him, questioning what he was doing. He said nothing, only reaching into the cabinet next to the stove and taking out the hot sauce. He brought it back over to the table and sat down._

_“Why are you--”_

_“Because I don’t trust you with this.”_

_Eventually the food was ready and they both ate. They sat there for a couple minutes after they had finished and took in the silence. Emi stood up and entered the living room before sitting down in the rocking chair in the corner. She looked out the window and smiled at the trees. She loved watching how the leaves fell off the trees. Getting an idea, Emi walked back into the kitchen and stood in front of Laxus._

_“We should rake the leaves outside.”_

_Laxus looked at her and silently told her to continue._

_“It’s our yard, so we should clean it up. Plus I think it’ll be fun.”_

_He stood up and rummaged through the front closet before taking out two rakes. He handed one over to Emi and opened the door. After a while, there were two big piles of leaves in the clearing._

_“I have an idea,” Emi happily said. “We should jump in the piles.”_

_“No.”_

_“Oh come on. Have some fun.”_

_“You’re free to jump in it yourself, but just know that you’ll be responsible for cleaning it back up.”_

_A few seconds later, Emi was buried in leaves. She laughed as she continued to play in the leaves. Looking up, she saw that Laxus looked bored and indifferent._

“He always looks like that.”

_Emi got an idea and asked Laxus to help pull her up so she could start raking the leaves. She tried to suddenly tug him down into the leaves, but he wouldn’t budge._

_“That’s not fair. You’re supposed to fall down.”_

_“I’ve learned to be prepared for your antics.”_

\----------------------------------------------

_“Can I go to the gardens later?”_

_Laxus shrugged before continuing to make his bed. Emi jumped onto the bed, ruining the work he had done._

_“Cut it out. I’m trying to do something here.”_

_“What’s the point of making the bed when you’re just going to take a nap later anyway?”_

_Laxus gave Emi a side look and pushed her off the bed. She laughed under her breath and walked back to her room to grab her cloak._

_“I’m heading out!”_

_“If you get into any sort of trouble I will kill you.”_

\--------------------------------------------------

_“Let’s see...I could go to the gardens or I could look around in the flower shop. Which one?”_

_Emi decided to go to the flower shop, saying that she felt like the house needed some flowers. She ended up picking up some dragon lilies and alyssiums. She sang under her breath as she wandered over to the ports. The sparkling water captivated her, but she was soon panicked. A loud boom was heard, and she looked over to see that one of the ports was completely destroyed. Emi’s mouth hung open before slowly backing away from the harbor and fast-walking back to the forest._

_“That was strange.”_

_“That,” Laxus spoke up from in the clearing, startling Emi, “was Fairy Tail.”_

_“Are you serious? They took out an entire harbor!”_

_“Knowing them, it was Natsu.”_

_“Wow,” Emi breathed, “Fairy Tail is super strong.”_

_“No. They’re just a bunch of idiots who don’t know when to stop.”_

_Emi giggled and walked back inside the house._

_“Oh. I almost forgot. Look what I bought!”_

_“Why do we--”_

_“Because we need some decorations, and these are perfect.”_

\--------------------------------------------

_“You do this every night, and every night I tell you to leave. So why, may I ask, do you still insist on coming in here?”_

_“Because I’m tired.”_

_“So sleep.”_

_“That’s what I’m trying to--”_

_“In your own bed. You’re a grown up, not a small child.”_

_Emi started sniffling and Laxus groaned._

_“Now what?”_

_“I just...don’t want to be alone.”_

_“Fine. Hurry up.”_

_Emi smiled softly before slowly crawling into bed. She went to hug Laxus when he turned his head over his shoulder and glared at her. Emi laughed nervously before turning away from the dragon slayer and facing the far wall._

\----------------------------------

_Emi woke up feeling a weight on her. She slowly opened her eyes and found that somehow Laxus was facing her back and had an arm draped over her shoulder. Emi giggled, unintentionally waking the dragon slayer. He forced his eyes open and looked around._

_“You know,” Emi started, “for someone who protested so much, it seems like--”_

_Laxus seemed to realize what he was doing, quickly retracting his arm and sitting up straight. Emi laughed at his flustered reaction before rolling out of bed and stretching. Emi left Laxus’s room and went to go downstairs to make breakfast. She heard a quiet and worried “fuck me” before reaching the stairs._

“Yeah,” Sting aggressively repeated, “fuck you.”

\----------------------------------

_“Ice cream, ice cream!” Emi cheered as they exited the gardens._

_“You’re a child.”_

_“And you’re too serious. Soon it’s gonna be too cold to get ice cream, so we should enjoy it while we can.”_

_“Let’s just get home.”_

_“But we didn’t get the ice cream!” Emi protested._

_Laxus huffed before turning back to the cart and getting two ice creams. He handed the cone over to Emi and waited for her to take it. Emi beamed and snatched the cone before Laxus could pull it away. She happily licked her ice cream and started to hum to herself._

_“You do that a lot.”_

_“Hm?”_

_“You’re always humming.”_

_Emi looked away sheepishly before shyly saying, “I started doing it recently because everyone says I talk too much. I guess I hum instead.”_

_Laxus stayed silent for a short time before stopping in the middle of the road. Emi had wandered ahead of him and turned around when she realized that he wasn’t beside her anymore._

_“You don’t...have to,” Laxus forced out._

_“Huh?”_

_“You don’t have to force yourself to stop talking just because people say that--”_

_“Don’t you find it annoying too?”_

_“...Besides the point.”_

_Emi giggled and forced Laxus into a hug. He tried to pull away, but Emi wouldn’t let go._

_“Thank you, Laxus.”_

_“You’re gonna make me spill my ice cream.”_


	115. Scarred

_“Do you think there’s some type of way to force my memories to come back?”_

_Emi was sitting on one of the counters as she waited for Laxus to hand her the bad food that he found in the fridge. He handed her a fully bruised banana and Emi stuck her tongue out in concentration before trying to toss it in the trash from the counter. She cheered when she was able to successfully do it._

_“You’re gonna miss eventually and then you’ll be responsible for cleaning up rotten food off the floor.”_

_“How could you possibly say that?” Emi asked, offended. “I haven’t missed once!”_

_Laxus rolled his eyes and continued to hand over bad food. He groaned._

_“Why do we even have so much food that we throw away?”_

_“Because you push everything to the back of the fridge and then we both forget about things.”_

_Laxus grumbled before giving her a container with apple slices in them. Emi furrowed her eyebrows as she looked at the apple._

_“This isn’t even bad. You were really gonna have me throw away a perfectly good apple?”_

_“No,” Laxus corrected as he took out an orange, “I was giving it to you as a snack.”_

_“Oh!” Emi beamed as she opened the container. “Thanks!”_

_She swung her legs as she continued to sit on the counter while she happily ate the apple slices._

_“Get down from there. You’re gonna dirty the counters. I just cleaned those.”_

“I don’t think I would ever even think about Laxus doing chores,” Lucy mused.

“No kidding,” Cana agreed. 

“I’m standing right here.”

_Emi giggled before hopping off the counter._

_“How much food do we have left?”_

_“We have to go to the market.”_

_They both grabbed their cloaks and strolled through the forest._

_“What kind of tree do you think this is?” Emi quizzed._

_“I have no idea. I’m not the flower expert here.”_

_“Good question, Laxus!” Emi playfully exclaimed. “It’s a tabunoki tree.”_

_Laxus ignored her as he started to speed up._

_“I want to get this over with as soon as possible.”_

_“Does little Laxus need a nap?” Emi teased._

_Laxus scoffed before continuing to walk through the forest. They had arrived at the market, Emi immediately going to the produce section and picking out some apples. Laxus was in charge of getting the meats and fish while Emi was tasked with the produce and grains. They met in the middle of the market and started to return to the forest when they heard a loud scream._

_“What was that?” Emi asked shocked._

_Laxus guided Emi out of the market and pushed her towards the forest._

_“Go back to the house. I have to check something out.”_

_Emi hesitantly retreated into the forest with whatever bags she could carry. She saw Laxus put down the remaining bags inside a food cart after asking the man who owned it. He then navigated through the crowd and disappeared. Emi nervously stepped through the forest and made it back to the house. In order to distract herself, Emi grabbed a book off her very full bookcase and sat down on the couch to start reading._

_“Ice Make magic? That looks so cool! Imagine being able to just...make things like that. I wonder how many people can actually do that. It says that it’s uncommon.”_

_About an hour later, Laxus walked through the door with the rest of the food. Emi jumped up from her spot and rushed over to him._

_“What happened? What was that big noise? Are you okay? Did--”_

_“It was some sort of huge squid that crawled up on one of the boats. It was easy enough to defeat.”_

_“A squid? That’s new.”_

\----------------------------------------

_Emi burst through the front door and frantically looked around for Laxus. The dragon slayer had heard the panicked running, so he immediately rushed down the stairs and asked her what was wrong._

_“We need to go shopping.”_

_“Uh, why?”_

_“We just got invited to a dance.”_

_Laxus raised an eyebrow at her before breathing out, “Is that really why you came running in here like something happened?”_

_“I don’t even have a dress, Laxus. This is important,” Emi scolded._

_“No way,” Laxus chuckled, “you’re not actually going to go, are you?”_

_“Of course we are!”_

_“We? Hell no.”_

\--------------------------------------------

_“I can’t believe you made me come to this stupid party. Everyone is gonna recognize me.”_

_Emi rolled her eyes before pointing out that he was still wearing his cloak as he sulked in the corner._

_“You know, you’re supposed to be having fun.”_

_“I don’t like fun.”_

_Emi walked away from him and slipped through the people to get to the food table. She started to eat a piece of fish when a man approached her and asked her to dance. She smiled and gladly took his hand. Laxus looked over to where he thought she was and groaned when he realized she had disappeared again. He started to wander around the edges of the room to try to catch sight of Emi again. He eventually found her dancing with someone and he groaned. Emi continued to enjoy herself as she danced._

_“For someone who doesn’t know how to dance, you seem to be doing a good job,” the man joked._

_Emi giggled, “I don’t really remember learning to dance, but I guess it’s muscle memory.”_

_Laxus suddenly appeared behind them and coughed to gain their attention. The man looked up, as he was shorter than Laxus, and saw his intimidating stare. The man’s eyes widened before giving a quick apology and scurrying away._

_“What was that all about?” Emi wondered before she realized what had happened. “Laxus, why did you scare him away? We were having fun.”_

_“You don’t know if he’s dangerous or not.”_

_“What are you talking about?” Emi laughed. “He’s not a wizard. He’s the son of a local fisherman. Besides, I wanted to dance with someone, and you certainly wouldn’t dance, so I have to find someone else.”_

_Laxus stared at her for what seemed to be a long time before sighing and grabbing her hands._

_“Wait really? You’re gonna dance with me?” Emi asked excitedly._

_“ **Once.** Then we’re going home.”_

\-----------------------------------------------------------

_“Don’t you think that was fun? I had a great time.”_

_The two of them were walking back in the dark, and Emi wouldn’t stop talking. Laxus would acknowledge most of it, but he started to zone out after a while._

_“Are you even listening?”_

_That seemed to catch Laxus’s attention. He responded coolly, saying that he was, of course, listening._

_“Oh yeah, then what did I say?”_

_“You were talking about the flower gardens,” Laxus guessed._

_“Wow,” Emi snickered, “you’re very good at that. I actually was talking about that.”_

_Laxus gave a smug smile before pushing her further into the forest, saying that it was getting too dark to be surrounded by so many trees. When they got home, Laxus threw off his cloak and went into the kitchen. Emi went into her room to change out of her dress._

_“Laxus!”_

_He heard Emi’s calls from upstairs and stood at the bottom of the staircase, yelling up to ask what she wanted._

_“Can you help me unzip my dress? I can’t reach it.”_

_“You put it on by yourself, so you can take it off by yourself.”_

_“But I really can’t reach it. Please?”_

_Laxus huffed and climbed the stairs before joining Emi. She pointed where the zipper was, which was on her back, and asked him to help. He took the zipper and started pulling down, starting to speak._

_“Why would you wear a dress that you couldn’t even take off by your--”_

_He stopped abruptly once the zipper was almost down completely. As Laxus pulled down the zipper, the scars on her back were revealed. He stared at them for a few seconds before fully unzipping the dress and backing away._

_“What?” Emi asked in confusion._

_“What the hell happened to you?”_

_Emi went to ask him what he was talking about, but it clicked that he was talking about her back._

_“I don’t remember,” Emi weakly replied._

_“Jesus.”_

_They stood in silence, Laxus never taking his eyes off her back._

_“Does it hurt?”_

_“Huh? Oh, not really. It’s just a bit uncomfortable at times. Like when I wear something that rubs against it.”_

_Emi noticed that he was still staring, but she saw that he looked angry. She could hear a low growl._

_“Uh, Laxus? Are you okay?”_

_“Fine. I’m going to start dinner.”_

_With that, Laxus abruptly left the room and aggressively walked down the stairs._

“Why did you get so upset?” Lucy asked.

“It’s part of the whole mating thing,” Rogue explained. “Dragons are supposed to protect each other’s mates, so our instincts kick in when we see them injured.” 

Emi giggled before playfully bumping her hip into Laxus, “Aw. You care.”

Laxus grumbled before lightly bumping her back when he thought no one was looking.


	116. Domestic Life

_It seemed to be a couple months from when the last memory played, as the leaves on the trees had mostly fallen. Emi walked into the living room and sat next to Laxus on the couch. She turned so she was laying down across the couch, her head rested against the edge while her feet were swung up so they were laying across Laxus’s lap._

_“Hey, cut that out.”_

_Emi just giggled and opened up a book, completely ignoring him while she read. He eventually stopped protesting and hung his head back._

_Emi broke the silence, “Did you know that water magic is so versatile?”_

_Laxus lifted his head and made eye contact with her before closing his eyes._

_“It can be used as a defense, offense, and support. It says that there are even some people that know how to use healing abilities while using water magic. Do you know any water mages?”_

_“There was a newbie at Fairy Tail that was a water mage. I forget her name though.”_

“Juvia feels sad.”

“Don’t worry,” Cana soothed, “you had only just joined when he left.”

_“What was her magic like?”_

_“I think she was made of water? Something along those lines.”_

_“No way!” Emi exclaimed, her eyes shining brightly. “That’s so cool!”_

_Laxus hummed before letting his head fall back again. He could hear the turning of the pages as Emi read, eventually falling asleep. He woke up when he heard a bang from the kitchen._

_“Shit,” Emi cursed as she looked at the broken plate._

_“What are you doing in here?”_

_Laxus followed her eyes towards the floor where a plate shattered. He sighed before bending down and picking up the pieces. Emi started to help, but she ended up stepping on a sharp piece, causing her to squeak in pain. Laxus guided her to one of the chairs and asked her to sit down so he could look at it._

_“This is gonna hurt.”_

_Emi started to panic and squirm, “No no! I’m fine. It’s fine. It can just stay in there for now. I’m sure that--”_

_She was cut off by her own scream as Laxus ripped the glass out of her foot. She glared at Laxus, tears starting to flow from the pain._

_“Is there still a kit in the bathroom down here or is it only upstairs?”_

_Emi motioned towards the upstairs bathroom. Laxus looked towards the stairs before turning back to Emi and lifting her up from the seat. She asked what he was doing, but he simply carried her up the stairs and sat her on the closed toilet in the bathroom upstairs._

_“You know, you could’ve just grabbed the kit and brought it down.”_

_Laxus took out a disinfecting spray and apologized again before aiming at her foot._

_“Wait!”_

_Laxus looked up at her and raised an eyebrow. She tried to come up with something, but nothing was coming to mind._

_“Stop stalling. You need this or it’ll get infected.”_

_With that, Laxus held her foot still and sprayed the cut area. Emi whined and hissed as it started to sting. She continued to sniffle._

_“Why are you crying?” Laxus mused._

_“I don’t have a very high pain tolerance, and it really hurts.”_

_Laxus stood up and helped her off the toilet before guiding her to her room. He handed her an ice pack that she could put on her foot if it continued to hurt. Emi sat on her bed and sniffled a little more. The lightning mage looked back at her before crouching in front of her so they were face to face. He brought his hands to her face and wiped her tears with his fingers. Emi looked at him in shock._

_“Don’t worry about a little pain in your foot,” he soothed before standing up. “Why don’t you read a book or something. The red one looks interesting.”_

_Emi blinked a few times, trying to force a small blush off her face. He handed her the book and left the room, leaving her with her thoughts and a book on fire magic._

Everyone mirrored Emi’s reaction and blinked a couple times in confusion and surprise. 

“Uh, what just happened?” Lucy asked.

\--------------------------------------------------------

_Emi heard clanging from the kitchen and decided to see what Laxus was doing. He glared at the pots and pans as they sat on the table. Emi raised her eyebrow before walking into the room._

_“Why do you look like you’re about to yell at an inanimate object?”_

_“Because these stupid assholes,” Laxus explained while he continued to glare at the pile, “won’t fit together right.”_

_Emi laughed before taking the pile of pans. She took one pan out of the pile and everything seemed to fit perfectly together again. She lifted another part of the pile and placed the pan underneath one that was slightly smaller. Once she was done, the pans were in a neat pile of size and ready to be put back into the cabinet._

_“Show off,” Laxus muttered._

\---------------------------------------------------------

_Laxus sprinted from his room when he heard Emi screaming downstairs._

_“What happened?” Laxus panicked. “What’s wrong?”_

_“Look over there!”_

_Laxus looked over to the couch that Emi was pointing at and squinted his eyes trying to see what she was motioning towards._

_“Uh, I don’t see anything.”_

_“It’s a gigantic centipede, Laxus. How can you not see that?” Emi shouted._

_The dragon slayer laughed to himself before going over to the couch and shaking the cushions until the bug crawled out. He quickly stomped on it, killing it with his shoe._

_“Why couldn’t you do that yourself?” Laxus teased._

_Emi puffed out her cheeks before defending, “I’m not wearing any shoes.”_

\-----------------------------------------------

_“Can you believe it’s already going to be winter? It seems like it flew by.”_

_Laxus hummed in acknowledgement as he continued to read the paper._

_“So how did that dark guild hold up?” Emi joked._

_He smirked and flashed the front page at her. She laughed when she saw the main headline: ‘Mysterious Storm Rolls Through Clover Town: Local Mercenary Guild Destroyed.’_

_“A mercenary guild? That’s different. Are you sure you should be doing that?”_

_“They only say it’s a mercenary guild so that it doesn’t look bad that Clover Town had a dark guild in the first place.”_

_“They can’t use magic though, right?”_

_“Correct.”_

_“So don’t you think that you were at a little too much of an advantage.”_

_“I didn’t use magic,” Laxus said as he shrugged. “My fists were enough.”_

_Emi shook her head while smiling and remarking, “You’re a monster.”_

\---------------------------------------------

_Emi stood in the doorway to Laxus’s room holding her blanket and pillow. She slowly opened the door and stepped inside._

_“Can’t sleep?” Laxus suddenly asked, startling Emi because she thought that he was asleep._

_“Did I wake you?”_

_“Not necessarily. I was barely asleep when I heard you from your room.”_

_Emi blushed in embarrassment, thanking the dark that nobody else could see it._

_“Come on over. We have to leave early for a job tomorrow morning, so you need to get some sleep.”_

_“Woah. Seriously? You’re just gonna let me without a fight?”_

_Laxus didn’t speak, just patting the spot next to him on the bed. Emi beamed before scuttling over to the bed and covering herself with the blankets. She thought for a moment before scooting closer to him._

_“No.”_

_Emi laughed, mostly to herself, and answered, “Just checking.”_


	117. Babysitting!

_“Lunch is ready!”_

_Laxus stepped down the stairs and met Emi in the kitchen. She smiled at him as she handed him a plate. He handed it right back to her._

_“What’s wrong? Are you not hungry?”_

_Laxus simply pointed to the bottle of hot sauce on the counter. Emi groaned and apologized._

_“I really don’t know why I do it.”_

_The lightning mage gave a small smile, but covered it up quickly. He shuffled over to the fridge and pulled out some leftover chicken. He went to take a bite when his nose caught the same scent. He quickly put it back in the fridge and settled on a bowl of cereal. Emi laughed nervously before apologizing again for the trouble._

_“I have a job we can go on,” Laxus spoke as he lifted the spoon up to his mouth._

_A huge smile appeared on Emi’s face._

_“What is it? When do we leave? Where is it? What—”_

_Laxus covered her mouth with his hand and chuckled. Emi giggled before licking his hand. Laxus immediately pulled his hand away, his face twisting in disgust._

_“ **Why** would you do that?”_

_Emi giggled again and shrugged before skipping upstairs and grabbing her cloak._

_“What’re you doing? Let’s go!”_

———————————————

_“Woah, we’re actually taking the train?”_

_“You look tired. Just this once.”_

_Emi gasped before taking his hand and dragging him onto the train before he could change his mind. Laxus insisted they sit in the back, so they made their way past several rows of seats and sat at the very last row. The train started moving. Emi looked out the window and heard a low grumble. She looked over and saw Laxus looking uncomfortable._

_“Laxus, are you okay?”_

_Laxus was able to force out a “fine” before turning away from her._

_“Are you sure? You look—”_

_Emi was cut off by a bump in the train. This seemed to push Laxus to his limit. His face turned blue and he started choking for words._

_“Laxus—”_

_“Don’t.”_

_She got up from the bench across from Laxus and scooted close to him._

_“What’re you doi—”_

_“Shh.”_

_Emi pulled Laxus in for a side hug, Laxus groaning in discomfort. She guided his head on her shoulder and started running her fingers through his hair._

_“Is this why you didn’t want to take the train?” Emi joked._

_“Shut...up.”_

_Emi hummed as she continued to play with his hair._

————————————-

_“Hey look at the trees! There’s barely any leaves left. Isn’t that interesting?”_

_Laxus dragged himself off the train and took in deep breaths, inhaling the fresh air. Emi rolled her eyes and urged him to get going. He groaned one last time before standing up straight and catching up to her._

_“I never would’ve thought that you would have motion sickness. You don’t seem the type.”_

_“Can we just drop it?” Laxus asked, annoyance clear in his tone._

_“Hmm,” Emi playfully responded, “no, I don’t think we should.”_

_Laxus huffed before pushing her further into the town. They eventually met with a young woman and her two kids. Laxus asked her for more details of the job, and the woman smiled shyly before admitting something._

_“Well actually, I put up a request that would appeal to wizards in order to get someone who I could trust to protect my kids.”_

_“Huh?” Laxus and Emi questioned._

_“I have a date today and I needed someone to watch the kids,” the woman explained as she motioned towards her two daughters._

_Emi looked over to Laxus to see that his eyes were twitching and he glared at the woman._

_“So the robbery never happened then?” Emi tried._

_“That’s correct. I needed to draw attention to someone that had the power to watch over them and protect them from any possible danger.”_

_“I don’t watch kids,” Laxus seethed._

_“Please, sir. This date is really important to me.”_

_“Plenty of people would be willing to babysit your little brats. Find someone else.”_

_He started to walk away. Emi turned to the woman and apologized before running after the dragon slayer._

_“Laxus!”_

_He looked over his shoulder and glared._

_“I took the train to this stupid job and it’s to watch some snotty brats?”_

_Emi caught up to him and tugged at his cloak. They made eye contact, and Emi gave him a small smile before continuing to tug._

_“No.”_

_“Like you said,” Emi reasoned, “you took the train all the way here. Don’t you think we should at least make something from the trip?”_

_“I don’t get along with kids.”_

_“Oh please,” Emi snickered. “You haven’t even tried.”_

_Emi held his hand, making Laxus flinch._

_“Let go.”_

_“No, I don’t really feel like it,” Emi teased._

_Laxus huffed before walking back to the woman._

_“You get two hours. That’s it. Then I’m leaving your kids alone if you take any longer.”_

_Emi frantically waved her hands in front of her before stuttering, “He’s only joking! Don’t worry about a thing!”_

_“I am absolutely not joking.”_

_Emi sent a threatening look towards the wizard and turned back to the woman before assuring her that she would stay even if Laxus left. The woman looked between the two suspiciously, agreeing and rushing out towards the center of town._

_“Don’t do that!” Emi scolded. “You almost gave her a heart attack.”_

_“Not my fault she lied. I never would’ve taken this job if it involves babysitting some brats. I mean look at them,” Laxus said as he motioned to the kids. “They look like they’re mean.”_

_“They don’t look mean! You’re just being difficult.”_

_“Whatever.”_

_One of the daughters spoke up, “Mister, why are you so mean?”_

_Emi started panicking when she saw tears start to form. She rushed over to the girl and tried to calm her._

_“He’s a meanie! He doesn’t like me!”_

_Emi soothed, “Don’t you worry about that. Of course he likes you. He’s just—”_

_“I don’t like her. She’s right.”_

_Emi whipped her head around and glared at Laxus before turning back to the little girl._

_“Sweetheart, don’t listen to him. He’s very grumpy today because he didn’t take his nap.”_

_Laxus scoffed from behind her. The other little girl went past her sister and Emi and waddled right to Laxus’s feet. She sat down on the ground and babbled at him. Laxus raised an eyebrow and addressed Emi._

_“What the hell is this thing saying?”_

_Emi sighed before patting the crying girl’s head and going over to the other girl and picking her up._

_“She’s a toddler, Laxus. She doesn’t know how to talk yet.”_

_“She’s drooling on you.”_

_Emi laughed and bounced the toddler on her hip, earning a laugh from the girl. The toddler wrapped her little arms around Emi’s neck and continued to drool on Emi._

_“Disgusting.”_

_“Laxus,” Emi laughed, “why don’t you get the other girl and we’ll all go inside?”_

_Laxus turned to the girl and demanded, “Hey you, get in the house.”_

_Emi sweat dropped before ushering them all inside._

_“What’re your names?”_

_“My name is Ally and that’s my little sister Liz.”_

_“It’s nice to meet you. I’m Emi.”_

_“What about you?” Ally demanded as she turned to Laxus. “Who are you?”_

_“None of your business.”_

_Emi rolled her eyes and introduced Laxus to the girls. Ally crossed her arms and stepped so she was toe to toe with the dragon slayer._

_“I don’t like you.”_

_Laxus leaned down and smirked before confessing, “I don’t like you either.”_

_Emi groaned before smacking Laxus on the arm. He rolled his eyes at the white haired woman before sitting down in one of the chairs in the living room. Liz squirmed and motioned that she wanted to be set down, so Emi lowered her to the ground and allowed her to move freely. Liz crawled right over to Laxus and sat on his feet. The dragon slayer’s face twisted in disgust._

_“Off,” he demanded._

_“Up! Up!”_

_“Laxus, she wants you to hold her.”_

_“Absolutely not.”_

_“What are you, a scaredy cat?” Ally snickered. “You’ve never held a child before?”_

_Laxus glared at Ally before asking Emi to get Liz off his foot._

_“Up! Up!”_

_“Laxus, I think she really wants you to pick her up.”_

_Laxus grumbled before picking up the child and awkwardly holding her from under her armpits. He held her at a distance and grimaced when Liz started to drool again. He turned to the side and set her down on the couch, propping her up on the back cushion to the couch._

_“There. She can stay right there.”_

_“You’re really bad at this,” Ally commented with her hands on her hips. “How do you expect to raise kids of your own?”_

_“I’m not having kids.”_

_“What’s wrong big shot? Too scared to have a child?”_

_“What did you just fucking say?”_

_“Laxus!”_

_Ally gasped before smirking and declaring, “I’m telling mom that you swore. Of course, unless you do what I say.”_

_Laxus rolled his eyes and stood up, standing over Ally trying to intimidate her._

_“You’re not gonna scare me, big guy. My father was a wizard.”_

_“Oh yeah. Then where—”_

_“Laxus!” Emi whisper-yelled. “Don’t you dare.”_

_The dragon slayer rolled his eyes, but didn’t continue._

_“Up!”_

_Emi rushed over to Liz and picked her up before she crawled off the couch._

_“Let’s go get you a snack!”_

_Ally and Laxus continued to stare each other down. Emi’s head popped into the room and asked Ally if she wanted a snack. Ally immediately smiled and followed her into the kitchen._

———————————

_“Hey dumbass,” Ally said as she pointed to Laxus, “do you think that you’re so tough?”_

_Emi scolded Ally about her swearing. Laxus glared at the girl, but she was busy chatting with Emi. He felt a weight on his foot and looked down to see Liz holding her arms in the air._

_“Up! Up!”_

_Laxus tried to ignore her, but she persisted. He looked up to see that Emi and Ally were still talking and laughing and he groaned. He awkwardly picked Liz up, causing her to giggle and grab his cheeks. The dragon slayer glared at the toddler and held her at an arm's length._

_“Uh, hi.”_

_“Dada!”_

_“...What?”_

_Liz giggled and squirmed before exclaiming, “Dada!”_

_“Emi, I think it’s time we go,” Laxus called._

_Emi and Ally stopped talking and Emi asked why he was in such a rush._

_“Dada!”_

_“That’s why.”_

_“Liz, no!” Ally shouted. “He’s totally not Dad.”_

_Liz started crying and struggled in Laxus’s arms. Emi came over and gently took Liz into her arms and rocked her until she calmed down._

_“Dada?”_

_“That’s not Dad you idiot.”_

_“Hey,” Laxus sternly scolded, “don’t make your sister cry again.”_

_Laxus snatched Liz from Emi’s arms and walked back into the living room. Ally and Emi blinked a few times as they tried to process what had happened. They both peeked into the room to see that Laxus and Liz were sitting on the floor playing with blocks._

_“Is he…”_

_“...Playing with her?”_

_Emi smiled to herself as she recovered before walking over to the two and crouched down next to Laxus._

_“Having fun?”_

_Laxus jolted when he heard her sudden voice and looked off to the side._

_“I’m just doing my job.”_

_“Ally, why don’t you come play with us?”_

_Ally looked between Laxus and Emi and then looked at the smile on her sister’s face. She sighed and sat down on the floor next to Emi and started to build a tower with the blocks. Laxus seemed to be concentrated on the tower he was building, and he huffed when Liz knocked it down. He glared at her for a second before smirking and knocking down Emi’s. She gasped and knocked Ally’s down, who then destroyed Liz’s. They all started laughing as they rebuilt their towers. The door opened and revealed the mother._

_“Look at all you! Oh I’m so glad y’all are having fun.”_

_“Mama!”_

_The mother thanked Emi and Laxus and handed them the reward._

_“I’ve never seen the two girls get along for so long,” the woman observed before turning to the two. “You two would make great parents.”_

_“Uh?”_

_“I mean you two look like a great couple. I’m sure that someday—”_

_“No.”_

_With that, Laxus dragged Emi out of the house and towards the forest._

_“Let me guess, we’re not taking the train back?” Emi joked._

_“Correct.”_


	118. Testing Magic

_Emi gasped before running into the living room and shaking Laxus. He stirred from his seat on the couch and asked her what she wanted._

_“Look, it’s snowing. We can play in the snow!”_

_Laxus looked out the window and saw that it was a light flurry._

_“There won’t be enough snow to do anything. It’s just dusting.”_

_Emi looked down defeated before pushing Laxus out of the way to look out the window more closely._

_“Hey!”_

_Emi squished her face against the window as she studied the snow._

_“You’re acting like this is the first time you’ve seen snow.”_

_Emi smiled sheepishly and stepped away from the window. She rushed into the kitchen and put on the kettle._

_“Do you want hot chocolate?”_

_“If you put hot sauce in it I’ll kill you.”_

_He could hear the cabinet closing slowly. Emi quickly came in with two mugs and handed one to him before going back over to the window._

_“You staring isn’t gonna make it snow harder.”_

_“That’s what they want you to think.”_

_Laxus rolled his eyes and leaned back in his seat as he sipped his drink._

_“We should go into town.”_

_“Why would you wanna do that when it’s cold out? It’s not snowing any harder in town than it is here.”_

_Emi pouted before setting her mug down and quickly climbing the stairs before returning with a book._

_“This one is on snow magic. I heard that that guy that used to be on the Magic Council can use it.”_

_“Is that so? Interesting.”_

_“Do you think I’ll be able to get it to work?”_

_“You can certainly try.”_

_Emi whipped open the door and went to run out to the clearing when Laxus yelled at her to grab her cloak._

_“You’re gonna catch a cold, and I’m not dealing with you when you’re sick again.”_

_“Yeah, yeah. Sure thing, mister Dreyar.”_

_Laxus had a small blush on his face as he said, “Don’t call me that.”_

_Emi giggled before disappearing outside. She looked at her book and stood in the correct stance._

_“Blizzard!”_

_Emi groaned when nothing changed. She stood in the middle of the clearing waiting for something to happen, but nothing ever did besides the light snow dusting her hair._

“So your powers were sealed away, too?” Lucy asked. 

“That’s awful!” Natsu shouted. “But why can you use it now?”

“It was an effect of the spell that was cast,” Levy explained. “Her memories were sealed, and so were the memories of having magic abilities, so her body rejected any attempt to cast spells.”

_“Any luck?”_

_“...No. I’ll get it though! One day I’ll be able to make a spell.”_

_Laxus hummed and guided her inside again._

————————————

_“A missing cat?”_

_Laxus grunted and continued weaving through the crowds near the harbor. Emi continued to ask questions._

_“What kind of cat? Does it have stripes? Or maybe spots? Is it an indoor cat? Is that why it’s so important to find it? Is the cat declawed? Where was—”_

_Laxus cut her off, “Black spotted, indoor declawed cat. Last seen in the market.”_

_“That’s horrible! We better hurry.”_

_They continued to scan the area when Emi spotted a small tail peeking from an alleyway. She tugged Laxus’s cloak and pointed to the alleyway before creeping over. Her cloak covered her from sight, so she was able to quickly grab and hold the cat as it squirmed in her arms._

_“Got it!”_

_They both met with the cat’s owner and handed the cat over to them._

_“Say,” the woman started, “you’re the two cloaked people who help everyone around here, right? I’ve heard rumors about you from the townspeople.”_

_Emi took off her hood and smiled at the woman, giving her a thumbs up. Laxus pulled Emi by the back of her cloak and forced her back into the forest._

_“Why don’t you ever let us stay around after we finish? They might think it’s rude.”_

_“Who gives a crap? We helped them and now we move on.”_

_Emi shook her head and allowed Laxus to drag her away. Once they got to the forest, Emi’s feet dug into the ground._

_“What the hell are you doing? It’s getting dark out.”_

_“Can you carry me?”_

_“No.”_

_“Come on, I’m tired and I think I’m getting a cold.”_

_Emi “sneezed” and started to cough._

_“Shut up. I know you’re faking. You have got to be the least believable person when it comes to that.”_

_“But you’ll carry me anyway, right?”_

_“Hurry up before I change my mind.”_

——————————

_“Do you think I’ll be able to make a magic circle?”_

_Laxus looked up from the pot he was cooking with and shrugged, saying she could try. Emi grabbed a pen and started writing on the kitchen tile._

_“Not in here, brat! You’re messing up the floor.”_

_Emi huffed and grabbed her cloak to go outside to the clearing. She looked at the book and copied the runes on the circle. She looked at the script proudly before tossing a rock in the center. She closed her eyes as she braced for the loud boom, but nothing came._

_“Oh come on!” Emi yelled frustrated. “I can’t even set a rock on fire. This sucks!”_

_She stomped back into the house and sat down at the kitchen table with her arms crossed._

_“Nothing?”_

_“Not even a spark!”_

_Laxus placed a plate of chicken in front of her before sitting down in his usual seat._

_“Maybe magic just isn’t for you—”_

_“That’s stupid. Everyone should be able to use magic.”_

_Laxus pointed to her food and urged her to eat. Emi mumbled something before looking up to Laxus and sighing._

_“Can we go to the gardens?”_

_He chuckled and agreed to go once they finished._

——————————

_“Look at those ones!”_

_The dragon slayer rolled his eyes as Emi jumped to each patch. He couldn’t help but be amused by her disposition._

_He observed, “I’m surprised this place is still open with the snow.”_

_“Well it’s not too cold yet, so the flowers that are able to sustain colder weather are still here.”_

_She pulled him over to a patch of daisies and picked one up._

_“Uh, I don’t think you should be doing that.”_

_“They allow people to take one if it’s a crowded patch. Besides, these will be dying soon.”_

_She smiled and leaned on her toes to reach Laxus’s head and put the flower on him._

_“Get it off me.”_

_“No,” Emi laughed, “it looks good there. And it even matches your hair.”_

_“It’s a white flower. I have yellow hair.”_

_Emi smiled brightly and ignored him, pulling him to the center of the gardens._

Everyone noticed that it was a similar scene to one of Emi’s memories with Sting. They all looked over at him and saw that his lips were pressed together and he was glaring at the scene. 

_“Where are we going now?_

_“To the fountain! Don’t you want to make a wish?”_

_Laxus rolled his eyes and handed her a couple coins that were left over from the job they took. He sat on the fountain and watched as she tossed the coins in._

_“What did you wish—”_

_“I can’t tell you. It won’t come true.”_

_“Are you ready to go now?”_


	119. Snowman Origins

_“I have a great idea,” Emi suddenly spoke up._

_Laxus looked up from his coffee and raised his eyebrow. Emi smiled brightly._

_“We should go to the park and play in the snow.”_

_Laxus chuckled and brought his mug over to the sink._

_“So is that a yes?”_

_“Hurry up before it starts to snow too bad.”_

_She hurried upstairs to get her cloak and boots on and impatiently waited for Laxus to do the same._

_“Alright, alright. I’m coming.”_

_They quickly made their way through the forest. Once they reached the town, Emi started to skip over to the park. Laxus yelled at her to not run off, but she just looked over her shoulder and laughed. He had eventually caught up to her right before she got to the park. She had already started gathering snow and was looking on the ground for something._

_“What’re you doing?” Laxus laughed._

_“Every snowman needs some arms. Duh.”_

_“I didn’t realize we were making one.”_

_“Of course we are! It’s a tradition.”_

_Laxus hummed before sifting through the snow and picking out a couple of branches. He dropped them in front of her and waited for her to approve. She picked up a branch of her own and showed it to him._

_“I think this one is better, don’t you think?”_

_“Mine is better.”_

_“Sure, Laxus. You keep thinking that.”_

_He rolled his eyes and picked her up before tossing her off to the side in a snowbank. She screamed as she landed in the snow. She poked her head up and giggled. Once she freed herself from the snow, she started to pat snow together._

_“I’ll do the middle if you do the bottom. Then we can make the head and dress him!”_

_They both worked hard to create their section. Laxus ended up finishing first and started on the head. After about a half hour, the snowman was put together and mostly decorated. An older man came by and smiled at the two._

_“If you two would like, I could paint you both with your new friend there.”_

_Emi gasped, “That would be great, right Laxus?”_

_Said dragon slayer sighed and agreed. They both stood behind the snowman, Emi’s arm wrapped around Laxus’s waist._

_“Wait!”_

_Laxus and the artist looked at her for an explanation, but she gave none other than standing in front of the snowman and using her finger to make a lightning bolt on the stomach. She rushed back to Laxus’s side and smiled for the painting. After ten minutes, the painting was done and the man handed it over to Emi. She excitedly thanked him and turned to Laxus to show him._

_“See? Isn’t this cool? Now we can remember this day forever!”_

“That’s the picture in your room, right?” Makarov asked his grandson. 

“Yeah.”

\----------------------------------------------------

_“Laxus,” Emi whispered, “are you still awake?”_

_“Come on in.”_

_She smiled and shuffled in, careful not to trip on her blanket. After making it to the bed, Emi crawled in and scooted closer to the lightning wizard._

_“What’re you doing?” Laxus laughed as she continued to squirm._

_“I’m cold.”_

_He rolled his eyes at her whines and sat up._

_“Where are you going? I need the body heat.”_

_“Scoot over here. You can sleep on my side tonight.”_

_“Really?!”_

_Laxus looked at her confused before telling her that it was already warm. Emi cheered and immediately crawled over to the other side of the bed._

_“You didn’t, like, just fart on the bed, did you?”_

_She could hear Laxus snickering before assuring her that he didn’t. He sat on the other side of the bed and laid down facing the wall. Emi turned over so she was facing away from the door and scooted into his back._

_“What was the point of me switching if you’re coming over to this side anway?” Laxus teased._

_“You’re warm.”_

_It was Laxus who turned around this time and faced her. He pushed her back over to the side by the door, causing Emi to whine. He had successfully pushed her away before he scooted himself closer to her. Emi smiled as she felt his arm wrap around her._

_“See? I told you that you were warm.”_

“I think we might’ve skipped ahead a bit,” Lucy snickered. “It seems like they’re just as close as they are now.”

Sting huffed and held Emi close to him while glaring at the disinterested Laxus. 

\-----------------------------------

_“You’ll never guess what I found!” Emi screamed as she burst through the front door._

_Laxus jumped at the sudden noise and glared at her._

_“I was taking a nap.”_

_“But look!” Emi yelled as she shoved a striped mouse in his face. “Isn’t she cute?”_

_“What the fuck? Get that out of the house!”_

_“But she’s my new friend.”_

_“You’re only saying that because you don’t talk to anyone else.”_

_“Yeah well Mittens listened to everything I said for an hour. We just sat in the tree and talked.”_

_“Mittens?” Laxus asked, amused before he turned serious and scolded, “You shouldn’t be climbing up trees in the winter.”_

_“Can we keep her?”_

_“No. Bring Mittens outside.”_

_Emi sadly walked back over to the door and slowly put Mittens down. She started sniffling, Laxus raising an eyebrow at her sudden sadness._

_“Em, we cannot keep a wild mouse in the house.”_

_“Can she stay as a visitor?” Emi asked hopefully._

_Laxus just gave her a blank look and Emi crouched down to Mittens and wished her well. She slowly shut the door and walked into the living room._

_“She belongs outside, Em.”_

_“I know,” she weakly agreed as she sat on the couch._

_Laxus looked at her unimpressed when she started sniffling again. He slowly made his way over to her and sat next to her. He sighed and let her hug him. She continued to sniffle as she hugged him._

_“She has a family, you know,” Laxus reasoned. “Mittens might have kids that she needed to get back to. Would you take her away from her family?”_

_Emi gasped before standing up suddenly and whipping the front door open._

_“Mittens,” Emi shouted, “say hi to your family for me!”_

_She could hear Laxus’s soft chuckles in the distance._


	120. This is a bit of a problem

_Emi looked around trying to find Laxus, but she couldn’t seem to locate him. She wandered through the whole house, but she still came up empty. She heard a loud and sudden bang from outside and ran to the clearing. Laxus was standing in front of a bunch of fallen trees and breathing heavily._

_“Laxus, what’re you--”_

_“Go back inside.”_

_“Are you okay--”_

_“ **I said go**.” _

_She was taken back by his sudden hostility, but obeyed and retreated to the living room. She watched through the window as Laxus continued to punch trees down._

“Damn I didn’t think you’d do that much damage without using magic,” Lucy said, shocked.

_“What is he doing?” Emi mumbled to herself._

_She heard another loud bang and jumped slightly. She huffed and stomped back outside, holding her hands on his hips._

_“Laxus, you’re going to destroy the whole forest like this and then we won’t have any cover to hide behind.”_

_“Didn’t I tell you to go back inside?”_

_“Why are you doing this?” Emi asked as she started to inch closer to him._

_“ **Stay back**!”_

_Emi stopped walking and tilted her head, concern filling her eyes._

_“Laxus--”_

_All he said was, “I can’t be around you right now.”_

_He walked towards the town, leaving her behind._

_“What the hell was that all about?” Emi questioned herself. “I hope he’s okay.”_

_It had been three hours since Laxus disappeared when Emi heard the door unlock. She jumped up from her seat on the couch and rushed over to the door to meet him._

_“Where did you--”_

_Laxus pushed past her and quickly made his way up the stairs before slamming the door. Emi blinked a few times and turned her head to look up the stairs. She quietly climbed the stairs and softly knocked on the door._

_“ **Go away**.”_

_“Will you at least tell me what I did? I might be able to--”_

_She went to discreetly turn the doorknob so she could slide into the room unnoticed, but as soon as she went to touch it she heard Laxus jump up and lock it from the inside._

_“Come on, Laxus. At least talk to me so that I can do something to--”_

_“You can’t do anything to help, so just do what you usually do.”_

_Emi sighed before walking away from his door and returning to the living room to get her book. She stood next to the couch in thought before silently making her way back to Laxus’s door and sitting next to it._

_“I’m not coming out, you know,” Laxus grunted. “So you can leave.”_

_“You’re gonna have to pee at some point.”_

_Laxus groaned. Emi could hear him slam his head against the wall by the door. She jumped slightly from the noise before asking Laxus if he was okay. He stayed silent before grunting out a small “I’m fine” and walked away from the door._

“You should probably start working on forcing a memory away, Em.”

She looked towards Laxus and questioned him as to why, but he just gave her a silent stare.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------

_It had been two days since Laxus had locked himself in his room. Emi busied herself by reading, but night came and she couldn’t sleep._

_“Well, I guess it’s worth a shot.”_

_Emi grabbed her pillow and blanket and shuffled over to Laxus’s room. She pressed her ear against the door to check if he was sleeping, but she heard a low growl instead._

_“What did I say about being near my room?” Laxus snapped._

_“I can’t sleep,” Emi simply stated._

_“Well I can’t help you right now,” he argued._

_“Have you been sleeping?”_

“Of course not.”

“Oh,” Lucy, Levy, Mira and Gray spoke.

“What?” Natsu shouted. “What’s going on?”

“Oh this should be fun,” Cana mused.

_Emi frowned at his response, worried for his health._

_“Can I lay outside your door and sleep here?”_

_She could hear Laxus sigh before he agreed. Emi made herself comfortable on the floor and quickly fell asleep. She stirred when she felt someone pick her up, but she quickly fell back asleep when she was set on her bed._

\-----------------------------------------------

_“Hey, are you done being grumpy yet?” Emi yelled up the stairs._

_She listened for a response, but got none so she stood in front of his door and knocked._

_“I’m going into town for an hour or so to help a woman bake a cake. I’ll be back. I left some food for you in the fridge.”_

_Emi exited the house and walked through the forest back to Hargeon. She met the woman and started talking as they made the cake._

_“You’re a natural at this,” the woman observed._

_Emi giggled before continuing to spread the frosting on the cake. They were done decorating and Emi was given one of the extra cakes to take home with her. She thanked the woman and started to walk towards the edge of Hargeon when she felt someone grab her from behind. She struggled in the man’s grasp._

_“Let me go!”_

_“Not now, little lady. You’re with Dreyar, are you not? It would be a pity if you didn’t return home to him.”_

_“It would be a pity if you never returned home yourself.”_

_The man looked up in fear to see Laxus staring him down. Emi noticed that the man started to shake slightly. Emi turned to face Laxus to see that he had a murderous look on his face. The attacker cowered down and tried to scurry away, but the dragon slayer caught him by the back of his shirt and slammed him up against a nearby building._

_“Laxus--”_

_“Now, I believe she told you to **let go**.” _

_The man went limp because he fainted from his fear. Laxus stepped away and threw him to the side and turned to Emi._

_“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Laxus growled. “You could’ve gotten hurt.”_

_“Hey!” Emi chippered as she ignored his question, “You’re alive!”_

_“That’s not an answer and you know it.”_

_Emi shrugged, “I told you that I was going to go into town to help someone before I left. Remember?”_

_The lightning wizard grabbed Emi by the back of her cloak and dragged her towards the forest._

_“Wait, my cake!”_

_Laxus looked back at the cake that was dropped on the ground and scoffed._

_“You can make a new one at home.”_

_They walked in complete silence, and Emi could tell that it was tense. As soon as they got back home, Laxus locked himself in his room again._

_“Did you come out of your room just to save me?” Emi joked._

_“Leave me alone.”_

\---------------------------------------

_Emi peeked around the corner of her bedroom door and saw that Laxus’s door was open. She smirked and tiptoed in before he noticed. She quickly deducted that he was in the bathroom because he wasn’t in the room and he barely went downstairs at all the whole week. After a quick glance around the room, Emi’s eyes trained on the utter chaos inside. There were clothes and pillows all over the floor and the window shade was taped shut. The peephole was taped over as well._

_“Jesus. What the hell happened in here?”_

_“Out.”_

_Emi turned around quickly to see Laxus standing in the doorway with his arms crossed._

_“I just wanted to check on you. Why does your room look like this?”_

_“Doesn’t matter. Now out.”_

_“No,” Emi argued as she mirrored Laxus and crossed her arms, “I’m not leaving until you tell me what’s going on.”_

_“You’re walking a very dangerous line right now.”_

“Oh, now I know what you meant,” Emi said as she turned to Laxus. “I don’t think I can.”

“Great,” Laxus groaned. “I’m moving over there.”

Laxus left Emi’s side and walked over so he was to the side of Team Natsu.

_“I don’t even know what you’re talking about, which goes back to what I was saying.”_

_“Please leave.”_

_“No.”_

_Laxus approached her and tried to push her out, but she managed to spin around to face him and roll her eyes._

_“I’m not leaving.”_

_Emi moved so she was standing toe-to-toe with the dragon slayer. He glared at her as threatening as he possibly could to get her to leave, but she wasn’t backing down._

_“Fuck it.”_

_Before Emi could question what he was talking about, she was pushed against the wall by the door. He roughly kissed her while pinning her, his arms on either side of her head._

“YES,” Mira shouted before gushing, “I’ve been waiting to see that for so long.”

_“O-oh,” Emi stuttered as she held a deep blush. “I, uh, didn’t realize.”_

_“You need to leave. Now.”_

_“What--”_

_“I’m not getting killed. Please leave before I do something stupid.”_

“Oh, but you **are** getting killed,” Sting yelled as he lunged at Laxus. 

Team Natsu jumped out of the way just in time, robbing Laxus of the cover he needed. The lightning mage readied himself for Sting’s attack, but Rogue, Orga and Emi restrained him before he could get to him. 

“Let me go!”

Everyone looked at Sting to see that his pupils were dilating rapidly. 

“Sting,” Emi soothed as she held his hands, “It’s okay. It’s okay.”

He jerked around in their hold before settling down. Emi waved Rogue and Orga off, and they looked at each other concerned before letting Sting go. 

“Get back, Em.”

“No.”

“ **Get back.** ”

“No.” 

“I don’t know what you’re trying to accomplish, bud.”

They all looked towards the corner where Cain had quietly stood. 

“What the fuck do you mean by that?”

“Humans can’t use their magic in here, and even if you could, you’d be hurting her brain.”

“My fists will work just fine.”

“Against him?” Cain snickered. “I highly doubt that.”

Sting growled lowly and went to move, but Emi trapped him in place with her shadows. 

“Hey, I thought you said we couldn’t use magic in here!”

“It’s her mind,” Cain shrugged off. “She can use whatever she wants.”

“Anyway,” Cana distracted, “we should probably continue with this whole memory thing.”

They all glared at each other before Emi tugged Sting to the farthest point from Laxus and held him there.

\-----------------------------------------------------------

_A couple days later, Emi heard Laxus rip something off his wall and unlock the door. She peeked over to his door to see that he was keeping it open instead of quickly shutting it, so she smiled and walked over._

_“Feeling any better?” Emi asked with a smile on her face._

_He gave her the silent answer when he motioned to his clean room and the tape that was gone from his window._

_“Great! I baked a cake yesterday, so there’s still some in the kitchen if you want some. I have breakfast cooking now.”_

_She went down to the kitchen and continued to stir the pan with sausage and potatoes. She hummed to herself when she heard Laxus hesitantly step into the kitchen. He awkwardly stood near the table._

_“Are you okay?”_

_He started to blush before saying that he was fine, stiffly sitting down in his seat. Emi set down two plates of food and sat down across from him like she usually did._

_“Uh, thanks.”_

_“You don’t have to feel awkward about the other day,” Emi suddenly spoke up. “I went to the library later that day and read about dragon instincts. Don’t worry about it.”_

_“You’re not the one I’m worried about,” he muttered._

_“So does this mean I can sleep in your room again?”_

_They both laughed and continued to eat, making random conversation._


	121. Sting

_“Laxus, can I come in?” Emi quietly asked as she stood at the door to his room._

_She heard footsteps and the door slowly opened. He poked his head out and looked at her standing there holding her blanket and pillow. He opened the door wider and waved her in. She padded over to the bed and slowly curled into the empty space. Laxus noticed her change in demeanor and looked at her worried._

_“You okay?”_

_She stayed silent for a minute before she lifted her head and sadly nodded. Laxus raised his eyebrow but didn’t push, cautiously walking back towards the bed._

_“Am I always gonna be like this?” Emi suddenly cried. “Am I always gonna be that girl with no memories?_

_Laxus sat on the bed and turned towards her, soothing, “You’ll get them back. You just have to give it time.”_

_“It’s been over two years and I still can’t remember anything!”_

_She let out a frustrated scream as she yelled into the pillow. Laxus rested his hand on her head and rubbed in circles. She seemed to calm down slightly, but she was still angry. Laxus stood up suddenly and walked over to the floor where his shirt was and put it back on._

_“Let’s go. Get your cloak.”_

_Emi raised her head and looked at him in confusion, reminding him that she was still in her sleep clothes._

_“Okay, then get changed and meet me downstairs.”_

_WIth that, Laxus exited the room and went downstairs. Emi stared at the door momentarily before she slowly walked back to her room and changed, grabbing her cloak and stepping down the stairs._

_“Where are we going? It’s late.”_

_“We would need to leave tonight to get there in time.”_

_“Where?”_

_Laxus guided her through the forest, just barely making the last call for the final train of the night. They sat in the back, as usual. Emi couldn’t help but giggle when Laxus started to groan. She scooted so she was next to him and pulled his head to her shoulder and stroked his hair._

\-----------------------------------------------

_“You still won’t tell me what we’re doing,” Emi mumbled._

_They had just arrived at their destination very late at night. She looked around, but she was having a hard time recognizing anything since it was so dark out._

_“It’s Magnolia,” Laxus laughed as he noticed her confusion._

_“Why are we here?”_

_“Well, you see,” Laxus started, “there’s something called the Fantasia Parade that happens every--”_

_“No way! We’re actually gonna see the parade? That’s so cool!”_

_Laxus smiled fondly as he saw her happy demeanor return._

_“When does it start? Where does it go? How long does it last? Where--”_

_“Easy, Em. It’s not until tomorrow afternoon. I just figured we’d get here so that we could get a jump on the crowds.”_

_They checked into an inn for the night and fell asleep once Emi stopped rambling excitedly. The next day came and Emi was jumping on the bed so Laxus would wake up. He grumbled and groaned when Emi jumped on his back._

_“Hey, quit it. I’m up.”_

_“The parade is today! We have to leave.”_

_Laxus stretched as he sat up and tossed Emi’s cloak at her before fastening his own._

_“Alright,” Laxus yawned, “let’s go.”_

\---------------------------------------------------

_“Woah,” Emi breathed, “this is so cool.”_

_Laxus had told her that they needed to stay in the back so that Fairy Tail wouldn’t notice her was there, but he let her on his back so that she could see better._

_“That’s Fairy Tail? They look so cool!”_

_“Hey, quit squirming.”_

_“That girl turned into water! Woah, look at the card wizard!”_

_Laxus chuckled and responded, “Yeah they’re certainly something.”_

\------------------------------------------------------

_“That was the most fun I’ve ever had. Does this parade happen every year? Because if it does then we should come back next year. And the next year and the next.”_

_Laxus chuckled as he held her legs so she wouldn’t fall off._

_“So I’m guessing you didn’t really like it?” Laxus teased._

_Emi giggled and jumped down from Laxus’s back and hugged him tight. Laxus rolled his eyes before reluctantly hugging back._

_“This was great!”_

_Emi started running through the streets, Laxus yelling at her to slow down. He eventually caught her and scolded her._

_“I have to keep a low profile here, brat. I can’t afford to get recognized so close to Fairy Tail.”_

_“Oh right,” Emi gasped before she continued sheepishly, “I forgot. Sorry.”_

_They walked back to the inn, and Laxus went to pack up their stuff when Emi interrupted him._

_“Why are we leaving so soon? Don’t you want to explore?”_

_“Fairy Tail is here, so we can’t stay too long. There are dragon slayers there and if they catch my scent then trouble will come. Plus I really don’t deserve to be here.”_

_“You know, you never talk about them.”_

_“I did something stupid and it hurt a lot of people.”_

_“But that was years ago. Don’t you think you can go out of hiding and go back?”_

_“I can’t go back.”_

_“You might think that now, but I’m sure you’ll feel--”_

_“I was banished.”_

_Emi’s eyes went wide as she stared at the dragon slayer. She was able to stutter out an “oh” before they walked in silence._

_“Well I think that when they see how you are now they’ll have no choice but to let you back in!”_

_“What the hell does that mean?”_

_“Oh come on, Laxus,” Emi laughed. “Your whole attitude has changed just from when I met you to now. I’m sure they’ll take notice.”_

“I mean, it’s true,” Evergreen agreed. 

Everyone looked to see that the Thunder God Tribe had protectively stood around Laxus as they continued to watch the seething Sting. 

“Come on Sting,” Rogue pleaded. “It’s not that big a deal.”

“I’d love to hear you say that when someone else makes a move on your mate.”

_They eventually made it towards the edge of Magnolia and boarded the train._

_“Do you think it would be cool if stuff in books would come to life? That would mean so many creatures and heroes would be roaming around--”_

_“Can you please just be quiet. I can’t deal with the train and your rambling.”_

_Emi giggled and started to hum._

\------------------------------------

_“Laxus!” Emi shouted as she ran into the living room, almost falling from slipping on the wooden floors with socks. “I have a great idea!”_

_He waited impatiently for her to explain so that he could yell at her for being careless._

_“We should totally form our own guild!”_

_“There’s only two of us, and only one of us can use magic.”_

_“So? You’d be the leader and I can be your trusty sidekick that works in the shadows.”_

_Emi did a little pose as she spoke and looked at Laxus with a smile._

_“No.”_

_Emi’s smile faltered and she stepped in front of Laxus and crossed her arms. He raised an eyebrow at her._

_“Come on, it’ll be so much fun.”_

_“I’m not here to have fun.”_

_She sighed before jumping on the spot next to him and leaning her head on his shoulder._

_“Hey brat, get off.”_

_He looked over to see that she was already asleep and groaned, “Seriously?”_

\----------------------------------------------

_Crying could be heard from Emi’s bedroom. She had her knees to her head as she sat in the middle of her bed. Laxus must’ve heard it, as he was slowly making his way over to her door frame._

_“You okay?”_

_“No,” Emi mumbled, “I don’t remember who I am, I feel useless, and my period is due in a couple days.”_

_“Uh, listen I don’t really know how to deal with all that, so I don’t really think I’ll be able to--”_

_“Will you just stay here for a minute?” Emi asked weakly._

_Laxus stepped so that he was standing at the edge of the bed and looked at her crying before he sat down. She crawled over to him and pushed her head into his arm, trying to get him to hug her. After a minute of Laxus being stubborn, he finally raised his arm and let her crawl into the side hug. She continued to cry, but was eventually able to calm it down to a sniffle._

_“This sucks,” she muttered. “I just wanna remember something. Even if it’s just my last name.”_

_“You’ll get there eventually.”_

_Emi looked up at him and raised her head so that she was at eye level with him._

_“You really think so?”_

_Laxus hummed in response. Emi looked at him for a few seconds before she put her hand on his cheek._

“Uh oh.”

_She slowly leaned up and kissed him softly with her eyes closed. She was met with the shocked and flustered face of Laxus when she opened her eyes. Emi’s eyes lowered to the floor and let out a shallow breath. Laxus squeezed his eyes shut before opening them._

_“Uh, Em?”_

_She looked back up to Laxus and started to apologize, her own face scarlet. Before she could say anything, Laxus tilted her chin and kissed her again._

Everyone looked in horror at Sting except Mira who was too busy commenting on the scene before them.

“You better hope we stay in here forever, because as soon as we get out I’m gonna rip you to--”

“Sting, please calm down.”

“I don’t want to talk to you either. That one was started by you.”

“I wouldn’t have done anything if I knew who I was. At that point I didn’t even know you existed, not even mentioning our relationship.”

“How many more times does this shit happen?”

_After it seemed like he realized what he was doing, Laxus jumped off the bed and stood up straight._

_“Laxus? What’re you--”_

_“I can’t keep doing this. I’ve already done it way more than I should’ve.”_

_“What do you mean?”_

_“It means this,” Laxus started as he motioned towards her and the bed, “can’t happen.”_

_Emi stood up and started to inch her way over to him._

_“Don’t.”_

_“What’s wrong with you?” Emi joked. “Never kissed someone before?”_

_“I’m, uh, not allowed to?” Laxus said, trying to make an excuse._

_“Not allowed? By who?”_

_She got even closer. Laxus slowly backed away._

_“Uh...my grandfather.”_

_Emi giggled, “Really?”_

_“Yes,” Laxus covered, “my grandfather made me promise not to kiss anyone until I was fifty.”_

_“Laxus, I think you can rebel against that,” Emi sarcastically stated as she tried to hold in her laughter._

_“Well that’s not all. You see, I’m...cursed.”_

_“Cursed?”_

_“Definitely. A wizard cast a curse on me saying that if I kiss anyone three times then they would die.”_

_“You know what’s really sad? The curse excuse is the most believable out of the two, and even that one is clearly false.”_

_Laxus huffed and looked down to see that she was right at his feet. She looked at him sweetly and gave a bright smile before hugging him._

_“Alright, I’ll choose to believe you. You seemed to have put in a lot of effort into making excu--”_

_She was cut off when Laxus kissed her again. She instinctively put her hands on his chest and grabbed the shirt there. She leaned up on her tiptoes to reach him. Laxus seemed to notice, so he lifted her up, Emi wrapping her legs around his torso to stop from falling. He slowly moved so that he could lean her against the wall by her door, his hands never leaving her cheeks._

“Okay, so it’s settled!” Sting cheerfully stated. “You’re fucking dead!”

Sting was too busy glaring at Laxus that he didn’t notice what was happening in the memory. Orga and Elfman casually stood in Sting’s eyesight so that they could block him from seeing.

_Emi tugged at Laxus’s shirt, and it was quickly taken off. They deepened the kiss, and the dragon slayer started to lift Emi’s shirt. He seemed to realize what he was doing because he cursed under his breath and immediately put her down._

_“Uh.”_

_“Now what?”_

_“Nothing. I just don’t think this is a good idea.”_

_“Oh no!” Emi playfully yelled as she slunk to the floor. “I’m melting! It must be that curse of yours.”_

_“Ha ha ha. Very funny.”_

_Emi giggled before she gently pushed Laxus out of her room and gave him his shirt back._

_“Well, I’m taking a nap. Wake me up when dinner is ready.”_

_“You brat. You’re the one who’s supposed to be cooking tonight.”_

_“Oh am I? I don’t think I can with this curse,” Emi teased as she overdramatically held herself up by leaning on the doorframe._

_Laxus rolled his eyes before walking down the stairs._

_“Curse huh. Interesting excuse.”_


	122. Flynn and Ryder

_Emi wandered into the living room and gently kicked Laxus’s foot, waking him from his nap on the couch._

_“What?” Laxus groggily asked._

_“I need your help reaching the glass dish to make the meatloaf.”_

_The dragon slayer yawned and followed Emi to the kitchen. He stood in front of the oven and reached to open the cabinet. After seeing that the pan was on the top shelf of the cabinet he scoffed._

_“Why do we keep putting it up there?”_

_Emi shrugged and laughed as she watched Laxus standing on his toes trying to reach the pan. He sighed when he realized he couldn’t reach it and turned towards Emi and bent down. She crawled on his back and Laxus stood up straight. She shifted so that she was sitting on one of his shoulders with her legs hanging off towards his chest. She leaned up and grabbed the glass dish before giving Laxus the thumbs up._

_“Got it!”_

_Laxus hummed and caught her as she jumped from his shoulder into his arms and then hopped onto the floor._

_“We need to remember to not put it up there.”_

_Emi laughed before pushing Laxus out of the way of the oven. She called Laxus in once she finished cooking and brought the meatloaf over to the table. He stared at it intently for a few moments before sighing and taking a small bite. He glared at her when his throat started to burn._

_“Oops.”_

_He rolled his eyes and reached above the fridge for some bread. He tossed her a piece and sat back down._

_“You’re unbelievable.”_

_“I swear I don’t know why I do it. Or how.”_

\-------------------------------------------------

_“So I’ve been reading up on that curse you have,” Emi informed._

_“Uh, you know that there’s not really a curse like that, don’t you?”_

_“Actually, there is. It’s called the Juliet Curse. It’s not the exact same this as whatever shit you made up, but it’s pretty close. A book I found said that someone with the curse would be eternally tortured if they kissed another’s true love three times.”_

_“That’s what I said it was,” Laxus defended._

_Emi rolled her eyes and tossed the book into his lap._

_“So that means that if you actually kept your story straight,” Emi cheekily stated, “I might’ve actually believed you.”_

_Laxus blushed lightly before asking, “So this is like an actual, real thing?”_

_Emi giggled and said that history books don’t lie. Laxus started at the pages and flipped through them quickly._

_“How do you know if you’re cursed?”_

_“You would’ve been told directly,” Emi explained as she sat down next to him. “It happens when a malevolent witch feels betrayed by the head of a family. They put the curse on their children and then try to tempt them to give into the curse throughout their lives.”_

_“Interesting.”_

_“So unless your dad or grandfather pissed off some evil wizard, I think you’re fine,” she teased._

——————————

_“What’s that?”_

_“Weather lacrima.”_

_“Let me see!”_

_Emi pushed Laxus out of the way and pressed her face against the lacrima._

_“Don’t get too close,” Laxus scolded. “I put my lightning in there.”_

_“That’s so cool.”_

_They were on a request with another pair of wizards in a nearby village, and Laxus was in charge of storing energy using his electricity, which was necessary for the constant blackouts in the village. Emi tagged along, insisting that she could help, so she was put in charge of carrying the lacrima towards the center tower. She skipped through the village with Laxus slowly walking behind her._

_“Come on! You’re gonna be left behind. I told the other guys that we would join them for drinks after.”_

_The lightning wizard rolled his eyes before taking long strides to catch up to her. They met up with the others in the center tower and carefully placed the lacrima in a storage slot. Emi cheered when the lights flickered._

_“We did it!”_

_The two other wizards looked at Laxus with an amused look before one of them turned back to the woman._

_“You know that you didn’t—”_

_Laxus glared at him, silencing him instantly._

_“So whaddya day we go get those drinks?”_

_“This is gonna be so fun!”_

_They all made their way to the bar and ordered drinks. Emi leaned close to Laxus and whispered something in his ear._

_“I don’t believe we introduced ourselves to you, miss. My name is Ryder and this is Flynn.”_

_“It’s nice to meet you,” Emi giggled. “My name is Emi.”_

_They all had begun drinking and about an hour later, Flynn and Ryder were wasted._

_“You sure can handle your drinks,” Flynn slurred as he leaned on Emi. “That’s hot.”_

_“Uh, thanks?”_

_They spoke for a few minutes longer before Laxus suggested they all go their separate ways. The two groaned and exited the bar before Emi and Laxus._

_“I’ll be right back,” Laxus told Emi. “I forgot my cloak.”_

_Emi stood near the side of the building when she saw Ryder and Flynn approach her._

_“Oh hi guys. I thought you went home.”_

_They started getting closer to her and her gut told her that it was a bad situation._

_“We’ve been ordering you massive amounts of vodka all night and you’re still not drunk. How is that possible?”_

_Laxus appeared behind them and grabbed their shoulders._

_“Because you’ve been ordering her whatever she first ordered.”_

_Laxus knocked their heads together and tossed them aside._

_“And that was not vodka. It was water, dumbasses.”_

_“We totally got them!” Emi screamed._

_Laxus gave her a blank look and tugged her by her cloak through the town._

_“You need to learn how to fight.”_

_“But I don’t have magic.”_

_“So fight with your hands.”_

————————-

_“There’s no way I can do that.”_

_“Just try, brat.”_

_Laxus had started training Emi in hand to hand so she could try to defend herself better. She was told to break a plank using her hands. After about ten minutes of unsuccessful attempts, Emi collapsed on the ground and let out a frustrated groan. Laxus picked her up and pushed her towards the plank again._

_“No,” Emi whined. “I’m done for today.”_

_“Fine. But you’re cooking tonight.”_

_Emi flopped on her back and groaned._

———————-

_“Tell me about Fairy Tail.”_

_“Why do you want to know about them?”_

_“They were a big part of your life, right? What are they like?”_

_“Just a typical—”_

_“Oh please,” Emi joked. “Fairy Tail is anything but typical.”_

_A small smile appeared on Laxus’s face. He sat down on a nearby tree trunk and thought about what to say._

_“Let’s see...they’re very destructive, and the Magic Council always has to get involved, so they probably hate Fairy Tail with a passion. There’s a few S-class wizards—”_

_“Tell me about them.”_

_“Uh, okay. There’s Erza who everyone says is the strongest female wizard in Fairy Tail. And then there’s Mystogan who is super secretive and always covers his face—”_

_“Myst...ogan?_

“Is Miss Emi remembering? Is that what’s happening?”

“I don’t think so, Yukino.”

_“Nobody knows too much about him. You know that guy on the Magic Council that betrayed them?”_

_“Siegrain? Wasn’t that Jellal the whole time?”_

_Laxus nodded and continued, “Mystogan looks exactly like him, but it’s not actually Jellal.”_

_“Oh, that’s easy! He must be the Edolas counterpart.”_

_“Huh?”_

Lisanna spoke up, “How did you know that so quick—”

_“I read something about how there’s a parallel world called Edolas. Every book says that it’s a myth, but if there was a counterpart then that must mean that it’s true!”_

_“How many books have you read?” Laxus asked as he laughed._

_“Tell me about the others,” she excitedly responded._

_“Gildarts is probably the most powerful wizard in Fairy Tail. Well, except for the old man.”_

_“Makarov is one of the Ten Wizard Saints, right?”_

_“Yeah he’s pretty powerful.”_

_“What about the woman in water? Or the card lady? What about Mirajane? Oh my gosh please tell me about her! She’s an S-class wizard too, right? I heard she can transform into these strong beasts and—”_

_“Yeah she can be really scary at times.”_

“Hey Mira, it looks like you have a fan,” Lucy snickered. 

“Of course I love Mira! She’s so cool.”

_“Tell me more!”_


	123. Big Oops

_“Look at this one,” Emi started, “It’s an astilbe.”_

_“So?”_

_“It can grow up to six feet tall! That’s almost as tall as you. Isn’t that cool?”_

_“I guess.”_

_“Come on,” Emi said as she dragged him further into the gardens, “I thought I saw some malva somewhere over here.”_

_Laxus rolled his eyes and let her tug him along. He was eventually freed, so he went over to sit on the fountain to wait for Emi’s energy to run out. He leaned on the little ledge and closed his eyes. A few minutes later, he felt something on his face. He snapped his eyes open to see Emi standing over him as she dropped flowers on his face._

_“What the hell are you doing?”_

_“You were asleep. I was just trying to wake you.”_

_“I wasn’t asleep. I was--”_

_“Resting your eyes?” Emi snickered._

_“Are you two married?”_

_Emi and Laxus looked towards the ground to see a little girl holding a couple flowers. Laxus gave her a wide eyed look and Emi just giggled._

_“You two talk like my mom and dad, and they’re married. So are you married too?”_

_“Why the he--”_

_Emi smacked his shoulder before he could swear at the girl and jumped down from the fountain’s step and crouched down to meet her level. She whispered something in her ear with a smile on her face. The little girl gasped and turned to Laxus, pointing a finger at him._

_“You need to ask her to marry you already!”_

_“Uh--”_

_“She said that she’s been waiting for you to propose for a year. You need to hurry before she goes away!”_

_Laxus’s eyes twitched and he glared at Emi who just tittered and gave him an innocent look._

_“Yeah, sure,” Laxus forced out. “I’ll make sure to do that. Thanks, kid.”_

_The girl seemed to be pleased with his answer because she turned to Emi and smiled. Before she returned to her parents, she handed Emi a purple flower and stood on the fountain steps to give Laxus a red flower. Emi waved her goodbye and turned around to get Laxus to go explore the gardens more. She was met with an aggravated look from the dragon slayer._

_“You’re unbelievable.”_

_“Now what did I ever do to you?” Emi feigned offense._

\-------------------------------------------------

_“Get your suit ready. Because we’re going to a party!”_

_“Absolutely not.”_

_“Don’t be a party pooper. We only have to stay for a little bit.”_

_Laxus rolled his eyes and retreated into his room. Emi groaned and stood outside his door._

_“Please?”_

_She could hear a huff from inside the room before the door unlocked and slowly opened. Emi looked at him expectantly for his answer, and Laxus rolled his eyes and nodded his head._

_“Alright!” Emi cheered. “This is gonna be so fun.”_

_Emi rushed towards her room and picked out a dress. She practically jumped down the stairs and met Laxus in the living room. She laughed when she saw that he was playing with his tie with a look that could be described as determined and pissed off. He groaned and threw the tie off to the side._

_“Now what did that tie ever do to you?” Emi teased._

_“It existed.”_

_Emi rolled her eyes and picked up the tie before playing with it._

_“What the hell. Why isn’t it working?” Emi mumbled as she continued to tie it in all different ways._

_“So I guess this means that neither of us know how to tie it?”_

_Emi stuck her tongue out in concentration as she tried to get it to work before she sighed in defeat and threw the tie back on the couch._

_“That’s so stupid,” Emi muttered. “Why make something like that if people can’t even use it?”_

“So you forgot how to tie a tie along with your other memories?” Cana laughed. 

“Guess so.”

_“I’m not wearing it.”_

_“I don’t blame you.”_

\--------------------------------------------------

_“Look at all the food,” Emi breathed._

_“Did you seriously come for the food?” Laxus mused._

_“No,” she pouted. “I wanted to dance and hang out with people.”_

_Laxus hummed as he dragged her to the food tables. They ended up bickering about how much food they should take when a young woman approached them._

_“Excuse me,” she interrupted, “but are you Laxus?”_

_“Uh, yeah.”_

_“Oh my gosh. Will you please dance with me?”_

_“Uh, I’m not really--”_

_“He’d love to!”_

_Emi pushed Laxus towards the woman and urged him to go to the dancefloor. He went to protest, but Emi gave him a stern look.The dragon slayer sighed and took the woman’s hand._

_“Finally,” Emi breathed, “now I can take as much food as I want.”_

_About twenty minutes later, Laxus returned to Emi’s side._

_“That was a long dance,” Emi observed before she smiled. “You must’ve had fun.”_

_“Very far from fun. Some other girls saw me and wanted to dance.”_

_“You’re pretty popular, mister Dreyar.”_

_“Don’t call me that.”_

\------------------------------------------------

_“That was fun,” Emi stated as they walked through the forest._

_“Seriously? All you did was eat and make me dance with random people.”_

_“Which is exactly why it was so fun.”_

_“Didn’t you say you wanted to dance? You didn’t even--”_

_“Actually, I danced five times. You were too distracted by all the women surrounding you,” Emi snickered._

_“Sure, laugh it up. You know, dances are so annoying. This is exactly why I didn’t wanna go.”_

_“Admit it. You had fun.”_

_“No.”_

_They had arrived at the house and both of them went to their rooms to change. Emi groaned as she tried to reach the zipper again. She stretched her arms as long as they could, but she couldn’t seem to be able to hold the zipper long enough to tug it down._

_“Laxus!”_

_“What?”_

_Emi called him in and asked for his help again. He scoffed before making his usual remark about her struggle and reaching for the zipper on her back. He stood there silently and looked at the zipper intently._

_“Uh, are you gonna help me?” Emi asked. “I would like to read something. There’s this book on water magic that seemed interesting.”_

_Laxus shook his head to get any thoughts out and slowly pulled down her zipper, revealing her scars. He became angry again at the sight and had to look away._

_“Are you okay?” Emi hesitantly asked. “You don’t seem--”_

_She was cut off when she felt him kiss the back of her neck. Her body jolted from the unexpected contact before settling down. She closed her eyes and stayed there not moving. He tugged her to him so that her back was against his chest before moving to kiss the side of her neck instead._

“Cain, you were a genius to knock him out,” Lucy remarked.

“Thanks, kid. It was my pleasure.”

Everyone looked towards the unconscious Sting as he laid face down on the “ground.”

_“I’m really glad you came tonight,” Emi breathed as she continued to close her eyes to take in the feeling. “I was starting to think parties weren’t your thing.”_

_Laxus laughed and slowly turned her around so that they were facing each other. He whispered a small “they aren’t” before he held her cheek and brought their lips together. Emi broke away from the kiss after a little bit and looked up to him with a smirk._

_“Is this gonna be like the last few times where you suddenly freak out and run away from me?”_

_Laxus returned her smirk and responded with a “probably” before kissing her again. They had somehow moved from the center of the room to by the door. Laxus had her hands pinned on either side of her as she was pushed against the wall. He let go of one of her hands so he could hold the side of her face. She wrapped her free arm around his neck and pulled him closer._

The whole group took another worried glance at Sting, but were relieved when they saw that he still wasn’t moving. Emi had walked so she was beside Sting and sat down next to him. She softly rubbed his head. Makarov looked at Laxus with a stern and scolding look. Laxus avoided his eyes.

_Emi raked her hand through his hair and leaned up so he could get as close to him as possible. They broke apart for a second before Emi pulled him down by the collar of his suit. She pressed their foreheads together and looked at him playfully._

_“You really need to get laid or else you’re gonna keep doing this to me. I was hoping to find you someone at the dance, but you ignored every single woman there. Figures.”_

_He laughed deeply before hiking her up on the wall. He let go of her other arm to place both his hands in the small of her back and push her towards him. She took the chance to hold the back of his head. His hands moved from her back to her thighs before he backed up, walking backwards and then tossing her on the bed._

“Laxus…”

The memory had ended and the dragon slayer refused to look at his grandfather, settling his eyes upwards. 

“Well it’s not like I’m gonna apologize to you. I have to wait for that idiot to wake up.”

“Yeah,” Cain mused, “if he even lets you live long enough to speak.”


	124. Spy

_“What are you scared of?” Emi asked the next day._

_Laxus grumbled and shifted on the bed so he was turned away from her. Emi sat up and leaned over to him, tapping him on the shoulder._

_“I’m not supposed to be doing this with you.”_

_“You’ve mentioned that before, but you never actually tell me why.”_

_“It’s...complicated.”_

_“You act like whatever you’re trying to do is forbidden or something,” Emi laughed._

_“It basically is,” Laxus mumbled._

_“Hm? Well whatever it is,” Emi threw back the covers and jumped off the bed, “I still think you need to get laid.”_

“Wait, what?” Lucy questioned, shocked when she saw that Emi was still in her dress.

_“Yeah yeah. That’s not gonna happen,” Laxus scoffed before rolling out of bed and standing up. “Now out. I wanna change.”_

_“Are you forgetting that you’re in my bedroom?” Emi teased._

“Wait wait wait,” Cana cautioned, “You guys didn’t do anything?”

“Uh, no?” Emi answered, confused.

“You know, I do have **some** dignity,” Laxus defended. 

Makarov seemed to let out a breath, relieved that his grandson didn’t do something stupid. 

Gray reminded, “Good thing Sting was knocked out. Could you imagine what he would’ve done if he thought the same thing as us?”

Everyone looked down at Sting and shivered. 

_Laxus looked around confused before landing his eyes on Emi and admitting, “I guess I’m just so used to you barging into mine.”_

_“Hey! I don’t barge in. I knock every night.”_

\-----------------------------------

_“I’m telling you it was right here.”_

_“I don’t see anything.”_

_“I swear,” Emi defended, “I put a cup over it and everything.”_

_Laxus rolled his eyes and countered, “Well I don’t see any cups.”_

_Suddenly something scurried across the floor, causing Emi to screech and jump on Laxus’s back._

_“What was that?” Laxus wondered._

_“I told you,” Emi whimpered from his back, “it’s a giant cockroach.”_

_“Well then where’s the cup?”_

_They both scanned the room and saw that the cup was turned over._

_“This thing is a mutant. It has to be. That’s like, the heaviest cup we have.”_

_Laxus set Emi on the couch before walking over to the cup and picking it up._

_“Why are you wasting time on the cup? The thing scurried towards the kitchen.”_

_“Because I don’t think it’s a normal cockroach.”_

_“Obviously! It’s freakin’ huge!”_

_“That’s not what I meant. Just stay there.”_

_Laxus left to go into the kitchen, so Emi sat on the couch with her feet crossed under her. She heard Laxus pushing things around. She was, of course, terrified of the bug, and she would scan the room frantically. She suddenly looked down and saw that the cockroach was sitting right in front of her and staring at her. She gasped and stood on the couch._

_“Laxus!”_

_The cockroach’s eyes turned green and it started chanting._

_“Sloth...sloth...sloth...SLO--”_

_The bug was silenced when Laxus stepped on it._

“Woah,” Emi breathed as she stood up to look closer at the memory. “Are you telling me that that bug was Sloth spying on me?!”

“That’s super creepy,” Lucy agreed. 

_“Was that thing just talking?”_

_Emi shivered before jumping from the couch and running upstairs._

_“Where’re you going?”_

_“To take a shower! I can feel it crawling on me.”_

\----------------------------------

_“Do I look like a footrest to you?”_

_Emi smiled sweetly at Laxus before she turned back to her book. Laxus mumbled something under his breath before grabbing her feet and placing them off the side of the couch._

_“Aw. I was comfortable.”_

_“I was not. Use the table.”_

_Emi giggled before starting to discuss the book she was reading._

_“So I got a couple of books on the Magic Council. It talks about all the incidents that Fairy Tail caused. It gets updated every day by a magic scribe. Do you wanna see it?”_

_“Aren’t you holding it?”_

_“Fairy Tail would be lucky if I was. That,” Emi pointed over to the book in the corner, “is the one I’m talking about.”_

_Laxus choked for his words once he saw that the book was about half his height._

Everyone watching sweatdropped. Makarov and Mavis started crying while Natsu laughed maniacally.

“I’m so glad we’re not Fairy Tail,” Orga muttered. 

Rogue nodded in agreement. 

_“You’re telling me Fairy Tail did all of that?”_

_“There’s about a hundred incidents on each page. But don’t worry - that’s the entire history of Fairy Tail down to the first master’s leadership and founding.”_

_“Then what are you reading now?”_

_Emi shrugged and revealed her book saying that it was the history of the Ten Wizard Saints. She had discretely moved her legs back over to Laxus’s lap and smirked when she saw that he hadn’t noticed._

\---------------------------------------

_“Today’s the day!”_

_Laxus looked up from the paper and raised an eyebrow at the white haired woman. She smirked and pointed at him._

_“We’re going into town today and finding you a girlfriend.”_

_“Absolutely not.”_

_“Oh come on,” Emi coaxed, “she doesn’t even have to be a girlfriend. You just need to get laid. You’re way too serious all the time.”_

_“And you’re way too easy going.”_

_“If you don’t come with me then I’m going into town and announcing that Laxus Dreyar is looking for a girlfriend.”_

_Laxus shut his paper and tested, “You wouldn’t.”_

_Emi grabbed her cloak and winked before answering back, “Oh, but I would. Because I know how much you love people recognizing you.”_

_Laxus closed his eyes, as if in deep thought but also very annoyed, and then opened his eyes and huffed before grabbing his cloak. Emi smiled in victory and tugged him through the forest. Once they got to town, they walked around the marketplace._

_“This is stupid and quite frankly kind of creepy,” Laxus argued._

_“Well maybe if you actually went to talk to someone instead of standing in the shadows…”_

_“Shut up.”_

\--------------------------------------------

_“See? Don’t you feel better?” Emi chirped._

_“No.”_

_Emi rolled her eyes and smiled before saying, “You just don’t want to admit that you were horny.”_

_“I wasn’t h--”_

_“Anyway,” Emi interrupted, “I was thinking that we could go into town and visit the gardens.”_

_“I’m going back to bed right after I finish this article. Feel free to do whatever.”_

_“You’re no fun,” Emi pouted._

_Laxus loudly turned the page to the paper, showing that he was ignoring her. She smiled and laughed quietly before going upstairs to get her cloak._

_“Oh, sorry!”_

_Emi looked up and saw that she had almost ran into a woman with short white hair and green eyes. Emi brushed it off and introduced herself._

_“Um, you’re not his girlfriend are you?”_

_Emi laughed and shook her head before revealing that she was just a roommate. The woman seemed to let out a breath before smiling back at her._

_“He’s downstairs reading the paper, but he said he was going back to bed after he finished. Now I know why,” Emi said as she smiled slyly._

_The woman blushed and stuttered for words, but Emi waved it off and went into her room before leaving with her cloak. The walk through the forest was as it usually was, and she quickly reached the gardens. She spent two hours in the gardens when she saw that it was getting late. She pouted and reluctantly exited the gardens and went to walk towards the house._

_“Stop right there.”_

_Emi stopped in her tracks and turned around curiously._

“Oh yeah. We did meet before. Wack.”

_She turned to see Orga pointing at her._

_“Um, hi?”_

_“Is it true that you make the best cakes?”_

Everyone sweatdropped and looked at Orga with blank looks. 

_“Well I mean they’re probably not the absolute best.”_

_“Some old woman told me about you, but she didn’t know where you lived. It’s my honor to meet you.”_

_“Tha--”_

_She looked down to see that Orga was kneeling in front of her. Her mouth hung open before quickly pulling him up._

_“Please don’t do that. I promise I’ll make you a cake if you don’t do that again.”_

_“I will buy the ingredients.”_

_They took about an hour in the marketplace picking out the stuff for the cake and eventually headed over to the Hargeon’s center._

_“I’ve been staying with this older woman, and she says that we can use her kitchen. I’m assuming it’s a shorter walk than back to your house.”_

_Emi agreed and came into the house and began to cook. After she finished, they brought the cake outside to enjoy in the sun. They made idle conversation before Orga went to shake her hand. Suddenly, a huge crash was heard, and lightning shot out of the sky and landed directly behind Emi. She felt a hand on her shoulder and rolled her eyes._

_“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”_

_“I made a cake! Do you want a piece?” Emi cheerfully asked._

_Laxus stared Orga down before repeating his question._

_“Come on, Laxus. He just wanted a cake.”_

_“Laxus?” Orga questioned. “As in the lightning mage Laxus?”_

_“That would kind of explain the lightning strike,” Emi giggled._

_“I would like to challenge you,” Orga declared._

_Laxus glared at him before going to move closer when Emi grabbed his arm and pulled him back._

_“I don’t really think that’s a good idea. Especially since we don’t want to get noticed. Sorry. You can keep the cake though!”_

_Emi dragged Laxus away from the house and brought him back to the marketplace._

_“What happened to going back to bed?” Emi teased._

_“It’s been almost four hours since then. Brat.”_

“Are you kidding me?!”

“Emi, what’s wro--”

“Are you telling me I could’ve seen a dragon slayer and a god slayer fight and I broke it up?!”

_“I can’t believe you just go around making random people cakes.”_

_“I don’t, but he says he’s been looking for me for a while. Jealous?”_

_“Of what?”_

_“That you didn’t get a slice.”_

_Laxus stayed silent, proving her point. She tittered before promising that she would bake a cake when they got home._

“Are you...telling me…”

The group looked towards Sting to see that he was struggling to get up. He leaned on Emi once he finally stood up.

“Are you telling me that Orga met her too and I couldn’t smell it?”

“I’m not really sure why that is either,” Cain admitted. “It might’ve been a side effect of her losing her magic and memories.”

“I don’t want to talk to you right now,” Sting admitted. “You sure pack a punch.”

“I took down entire nations by myself in my prime. I think I can knock one wizard out.”

“I might actually know the answer to that,” Levy hesitantly spoke up. “Cain might be right. Magic and memories define a wizard, so losing that might’ve erased the scent or ‘fingerprint’ that defined her when you knew her.”

Sting nodded before he collapsed again and started coughing. 

“Sting!”

“I’m just gonna...lay on this floor for a bit.”


	125. Premonition

_“Why can’t you ever just lay still?”_

_“I’m sorry, but I need to find the most comfortable spot.”_

_“Well then find it quick. I wanna sleep at some point tonight.”_

_Emi continued to toss and squirm when Laxus finally stood up from his side, walked over to the other side of the bed, pushed Emi over to his side by the door, and laid down on the side by the wall. He turned so he was facing the door and pulled Emi under him. She hummed in content._

_“I found it!”_

_“Shut up.”_

\-------------------------------------

_“It’s gonna be your birthday soon, which means that we need to cook something special.”_

“When is your birthday?” Natsu asked.

Emi rushed over to Natsu and yelled, “You don’t know when his birthday is? Does this mean you never celebrated his birthday?”

“I didn’t like celebrating,” Laxus spoke up. 

_“So what do you want to eat? You can have whatever you want!”_

_Laxus continued to tie his shoes and only looked up when he felt her jump on his back._

_“Can’t you see I’m busy? Get off.”_

_Emi stood in front of Laxus and crossed her arms. She gave him a serious look and repeated her question._

_“Can we talk about this when I get back?” Laxus grunted. “I have to get to a job.”_

_Emi rolled her eyes and waved him off. She decided to busy herself by reading, as she always did. A book on Ice Make magic lay opened on the couch, so she decided to continue reading it. She looked at the spell guide and decided to try to cast one herself._

_“Ice Make: Dragon!”_

_Absolutely nothing happened and Emi hung her head. She looked back to the book and saw that that particular spell was one of the higher ranking ones._

_“Oh, duh. I should start off with a simple one. Let’s see…”_

_Emi took the stance and closed her eyes._

_“Ice Make: Shield!”_

_Emi screamed in frustration and flopped down on the couch. She threw the book to the side and huffed._

_“I just want to be able to do just one spell. Is that so much to ask?”_

_She looked over at the different books that she had littered all around the first floor and sighed as she started to clean. She took the stack of books to the stairs and tried to carry them all up at once, but she couldn’t see over the pile. Instead, she made a couple trips._

_“I’m exhausted. Jeez I’m out of shape.”_

_Emi decided to take a quick nap before she started to make dinner. She was woken up when she felt herself being picked up. Laxus came into view as she opened her eyes._

_“You’re back,” she groggily stated._

_Laxus hummed before bringing her upstairs and laying her on her bed._

_“What do you want for dinner?”_

_Laxus laughed quietly before pointing out the window, showing her that it was completely dark outside._

_“It’s ten o’clock.”_

_“How did that happen?” Emi asked, confusion lacing her voice._

_“You fell asleep. If you’re hungry, I brought you something home.”_

_Emi smiled weakly before drifting back off to sleep. About an hour later, Emi was screaming at the top of her lungs. Laxus immediately burst through the door and looked around before his eyes landed on Emi and how she was twisting and screaming. He went to look for his coat and panicked when he couldn’t find it. He knelt down next to the bed and shook her._

_“Hey brat, wake up.”_

_Emi jolted awake, immediately running to the bathroom and vomiting. She coughed a couple times before weakly standing up and walking back to the bedroom where Laxus stood confused. She shyly looked to the ground and squeaked out a small “sorry” before walking back over to her bed. Laxus could see that she seemed frightened, but she wouldn’t talk about what._

_“Do you remember what it was about?”_

_“Everyone was burning. I was burning them. And I couldn’t stop.”_

_“Who were you burning?”_

_“I couldn’t recognize anyone, but they were all gathered behind me. I was standing in front of them and somehow I set them on fire.”_

_Laxus gently picked Emi up and walked her to his room before laying her on the bed._

_“You can sleep here until you feel better.”_

\--------------------------------

_“Are you going on a date with that girl ever again?”_

_Laxus raised an eyebrow at the white haired woman before looking back down to his paper._

_“I don’t think a relationship is what I need right now.”_

_“What, why? She seemed really nice!”_

_Laxus flashed her the front page of the paper: ‘Dark Guild Serpent Tail Annihilated Overnight as Strange Lightning Strikes.’_

_“That means nothing. Besides, you’re getting grumpy again.”_

“He’s always grumpy,” Mira pleasantly said.

“I don’t really think I remember a time when he wasn’t,” Erza added.

_“I’m not grumpy.”_

_“Oh yeah?” Emi smirked before walking out of the room. “Then stop staring at my ass.”_

_A deep blush made its way on the lightning mage’s face._

\---------------------------------------------------

_“Hi there! My name is Emi. It’s nice to meet you!”_

_“Uh, yeah. You too. Is--”_

_“You bet. He’s upstairs. You can just go up.”_

_“Why are you greeting me at the door?”_

_“Because I wanted to welcome you in,” Emi innocently stated._

Everyone looked at the woman with curly white hair and yellow eyes and back to the cheery Emi as they spoke at the door. They kept looking between the two. 

_Emi eventually got the woman to smile and pushed her upstairs._

_“This isn’t like, some weird threesome foreplay, right?”_

_“Oh god no. Believe me. I’m leaving right now.”_

\-----------------------------------------

_“We should play a game.”_

_“Can’t we just go to sleep?”_

_Emi crawled so that her head was hovering over his and she poked his shoulder._

_“But a game would be fun.”_

_Laxus sighed and sat up before he glared at her._

_“Can it be a quick game please? I’m tired.”_

_Emi giggled and pointed out that he wasn’t even fully awake._

_“You look like you’re sleep talking.”_

_“Who says I’m not?”_

_Emi shook her head before saying that they should play the secret game._

_“I’ll go first. My secret is that I’ve been going on secret jobs to get you a birthday present. Now it’s your turn.”_

_She heard Laxus snoring softly, so she shook his shoulder and woke him up._

_“What?”_

_“It’s your turn.”_

_“For what?”_

_Emi huffed and reminded him that they were sharing secrets. He started to drift off to sleep when Emi poked his face and forced him to stay awake._

_“If I tell you a secret, you’ll let me sleep?”_

_“That’s how the game works. I already told mine so it’s your turn.”_

_“Wait what was yours?”_

_“Really? Were you not listening?”_

_“Em, I just want to sleep.”_

_“Secret first!”_

_“I’m in love with you.”_

They all looked towards Sting who was still bent over in pain. He slowly raised his head and growled.

_“Wait--”_

_“Relax brat. I’m kidding. Now let me sleep.”_

_“But you need to tell me the secret!”_

_She didn’t get a response other than snoring._


	126. Compromise

_“Happy birthday!”_

_Laxus didn’t answer, so she walked closer to him and repeated her cheer. There was still no answer. Emi rolled her eyes and jumped on the bed, trying to wake him up._

_He groaned and hissed, “What the fuck are you doing?”_

_“It’s your birthday! I made you cinnamon pancakes because I know they’re your favorite.”_

_“Do they have ho--”_

_“Don’t you worry. I hid the hot sauce somewhere I can’t find it.”_

_He raised an eyebrow at her._

_“No seriously. I forgot where I put it and now I can’t find it.”_

_The dragon slayer laughed loudly and rolled off his bed. They sat and ate in silence and when they finished, Laxus went into the living room._

_“So you went to bed awful early last night,” Emi stated slyly. “Were you even sleeping?”_

_“No,” Laxus responded as he pointed to the front article of the paper, “I was busy.”_

_“That’s no fun.”_

\--------------------------------------

_“Why are we out here?”_

_“I figured we could go exploring. Plus, I heard there’s this new ice cream stand that was moved by the flower gardens that we can check out.”_

_“We are not going to the gardens today.”_

_“I know,” Emi laughed, “but we can still get ice cream.”_

_They made their way to the ice cream stand and quickly ordered. Emi yelled that it was a contender for the best ice cream that she had ever had while Laxus quietly ate his._

_“You must like it too,” Emi teased, “because you aren’t making any comments on my screaming.”_

_Laxus chose to ignore her and continued to eat his ice cream in peace._

\-----------------------------------------------

_They were both sitting in the living room, Emi on the rocking chair and Laxus on the couch. Emi was reading when she suddenly spoke up._

_“Where did your scar come from?”_

_“I have a lacrima placed in my eye. When it healed, the scar formed.”_

_“That lacrima makes you a dragon slayer, right?”_

_He nodded and looked off to the side before revealing that his father had planted it in him so that he could later take it out once he was stronger and older._

_“Wouldn’t you die if that happens?”_

_“Yes.”_

_“I’m sorry if this offends you, but your father sounds like--”_

_“A deadbeat? An asshole? A dick? A pathetic excuse of a--”_

_“So you guys are really close then?” Emi sarcastically asked._

_“My dad left a long time ago. My grandfather took care of me.”_

_“Why did your dad leave?”_

_“He was banished. I guess that runs in the family.”_

_Emi frowned before getting up from her seat and standing in front of him._

_“I promise you,” she stated as she held his head in her hands, “you are nothing like your father.”_

_Laxus scoffed, “What would you know about that?”_

_“Well for starters it doesn’t seem like your father cared about anyone in his family.”_

_“He doesn’t.”_

_“Well then you’re already so different. You’ve been protecting Fairy Tail since I met you.”_

_He stayed silent, but she could tell that he was listening intently. She giggled lightly and grabbed his hand._

_“Believe me, I would let you know if you were like that.”_

_Laxus leaned back on the back of the couch and closed his eyes. Emi stayed in front of him, causing him to open one of his eyes and ask her what she was doing._

_“Does your eye ever hurt?”_

_“All the time.”_

_“So that’s why you have a high pain tolerance.”_

_Laxus hummed and sat up again when he saw a strange look on her face._

_“You good?”_

_She leaned down and softly kissed his scar, making Laxus shift in shock._

_“What’re you--”_

_“I kissed it better, duh,” she giggled._

_“Uh huh. Sure you did.”_

\--------------------------------------

_“Absolutely fucking not.”_

_“It’ll be fun!”_

_Laxus looked at the box that Emi was holding and shut his eyes in frustration. He glared at the white haired woman, but she just smiled brightly at him._

_“Nobody will even see it.”_

_“I am **not** wearing that.”_

_“But then we’ll match! Isn’t that cool?”_

_Laxus took the box and placed it on top of the tallest shelf in the living room._

_“Laxus,” Emi whined, “I just wanted us to match for a day.”_

_“Why?”_

_“Because it sounds like fun. I saw these little kids--”_

_Laxus stared at her unimpressed before walking upstairs. Emi tried climbing up the shelves, but she could barely reach the box. She stacked chairs and used a broom, cheering when she finally got the box down. A grey sweater sat in the box. She smiled at the lightning bolt in the middle and decided to give it one last try, climbing the stairs and knocking on his door._

_“No,” Laxus spoke before she could even say what she wanted._

_“You’re no fun.”_

\-------------------------------

_“Do you ever want to go back?”_

_“We’ve been over this already.”_

_“I know, I know. But do you want to?”_

_Laxus thought before he revealed that yes, he does want to go back._

_“How come you never visit to see your grandfather? Don’t you want to check--”_

_“I’m banished, which means I can’t go to Fairy Tail.”_

_“Yeah but you could always ask him to get coffee or something.”_

_“We didn’t really leave off on the right foot.”_

\-------------------------------

_“It’s settled. We’re painting the room gray.”_

_“Are you fucking kidding me?” Laxus asked annoyed. “That was my first suggestion, but you insisted on looking at all the choices for **two hours**.”_

_“I just wanted to make the right decision. I mean, this is our home. Wouldn’t you want it to feel as much like a home as possible?”_

_Laxus rolled his eyes before getting the paint rollers and tray out._

_“We do this my way, or else there’s gonna be an issue.”_

_Emi just giggled and opened the paint can before filcking some paint at Laxus. His eyes twitched and he went to yell at her when he saw the innocent smile on her face._

_“Oh please,” Laxus scoffed, “you fully well know that you’re not innocent.”_

_She smirked mischievously and flicked more paint at him. He got an idea and started walking towards her._

_“What are you doing?” Emi laughed._

_Her demeanor quickly changed when she realized what he was doing._

_“Don’t you dare.”_

_He just smirked and hugged her tight, covering her in the paint that was on his shirt._

_“Laxus Dreyar, stop this instant!”_

\----------------------------------

_“Uh oh. You’re punching trees again. That can’t be good.”_

_Laxus scoffed and sat down cross-legged, pouting like a little kid. Emi giggled and walked over to him, handing him a glass of water._

_“Thanks,” he grunted._

_“So,” Emi joked, “what did that tree ever do to you?”_

_He grumbled before he looked straight up at her and said, “I need to talk to you.”_

_Emi immediately dropped down to the ground and mirrored his sitting. She smiled and motioned for him to speak._

_“Listen, I just want to make something clear...for me.”_

_“You’re not gonna lock yourself in your room again, are you?”_

_“Well yeah. I am.”_

_Emi rolled her eyes and leaned back on her hands._

_“Anyway, so what exactly did you wanna ‘make clear?’”_

_“How do you feel about me?”_

_Emi looked taken back by his question and raised an eyebrow at him._

_“I mean, you’re great and all, but I just don’t think that--”_

_“Oh thank god,” he breathed before leaning back himself._

_“Wow Dreyar. That’s harsh.”_

_“I just don’t want my stupid hormones to dictate anything,” he defended. “I didn’t wanna lead you on or anything.”_

_Emi started laughing again before she leaned all the way back and laid on the ground._

_“Believe me. You’re not. We kissed a couple times, but I understand.”_

_She gave a wide grin and jumped up before walking over to Laxus, leaning down and kissing the top of his head._

_“What are you--”_

_“You hit your head earlier, yes?”_

_It was his turn to lay on his back and groan. She just smiled and laid down beside him._

“Well at least you know that it stopped, right Sting?”

The dragon slayer stayed quiet and then mumbled a quick “yeah I guess” before Lector flew on his head.

“I knew Lady Emiko never liked him! I knew it right away, yes.”

Emi and Sting couldn’t help but laugh at the exceed. Emi picked Lector off Sting’s head and hugged him tight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hey y'all! So the memories are coming to an end in the next chapter. What will happen next?


	127. Return: Emi vs Dragon Slayers!

_Laxus and Emi were relaxed on the couch, Emi reading and Laxus laying his head in her lap. She was absentmindedly stroking his hair, and Laxus looked like he was about to fall asleep._

_“Do you think I’ll actually remember?”_

_“Probably. You just gotta be patient.”_

_“But it’s been three years already! I just wanna remember.”_

“This looks like the last memory,” Emi observed.

“Why would you say that?” Yukino asked. 

“This is right before you followed me through the woods. It would only make sense that it would stop now.”

Levy turned around and agreed, “I’m pretty sure that the spell works to show everything in the past, but stops when it gets to the present.”

“Thank god,” Natsu stated. “This has been so stressful.”

Everyone looked at Natsu with blank looks before Lucy started yelling at him.

“You didn’t even do anything, you idiot!”

_“All that waiting is sure to pay off eventually.”_

_“Yeah, and what about you? Are you gonna keep waiting for Fairy Tail to just show up at your door for you to talk to them?”_

“Well...I mean that kinda is what happened,” Mira giggled.

“Shut up.”

_“I can’t deal with that right now.”_

_“Why?”_

_“Because I’m busy protecting--”_

_“Who? Me or Fairy Tail? Because for someone who’s working in the shadows to protect your guild, you seem to be awfully aloof.”_

_“That’s just how I am.”_

_“Believe me,” Emi giggled, “I know.”_

_“Yeah, yeah. Laugh all you want.”_

_They stayed silent, both going back to what they were originally doing. The room was quiet, and the only sounds were Laxus’s breathing and the sound of pages turning from Emi’s book._

_Emi was the one who spoke up, joking, “Hey Laxus, what would you do if I went to Fairy Tail and told them where we live?”_

_He just huffed and ignored her, eventually falling asleep._

“Wait!” Natsu shouted. “So you purposely led us there?!”

“Actually no. It just kind of worked out like that. It must’ve been destiny! Now the real problem is…”

Everyone looked towards her and saw that her expression turned serious. 

“Em, what’s wrong?” Sting asked, concerned. 

“Hey Cain? Will I ever see you again?” 

Cain laughed and held her shoulders, responding, “You’ll always see me, kid. You just gotta look inside your mind and wait.”

“Cain, I--”

“Remember, my flames will never go out.”

The group looked very confused, but Emi smiled and nodded, giving him one last hug and waving goodbye as the memories started to disappear.

\------------------------------------------

They all opened their eyes and saw that they were back in the inn, standing around in a circle with Emi sitting in the middle. Most of them noticed the change in demeanor Emi showed, and all of them saw her tears. She slowly stood up, brushing herself off, and approached Levy.

“Thank you for all you’ve done. Thanks to you, I can finally remember.”

She went to leave the inn when Sting grabbed her wrist.

“Where are you going so suddenly?”

“To visit home. You all are welcome to come with me.”

Sting tried to study her face and when he saw her eyes, it clicked. He smiled softly and nodded. The rest of them looked between each other and shrugged before following Emi out the door. Emi and Sting led the way and eventually stopped at a corner. 

“Ready?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be.”

They squeezed each other’s hand and turned the corner to reveal a weapons shop.

“What are we looking at?” Natsu spoke up.

“This was where our guildhall was before they placed this shop here.”

Emi snapped her fingers and whispered, “Return.”

A cloak came whipping through the town and landed in Emi’s hands. 

“You’re gonna wear that again?”

She turned to Sting and smiled before closing her eyes, and holding her cloak away from them.

“Immolate.”

The cloak burst into flames and turned to ash in her hands. She looked at all of them with cold eyes.

“I’m done hiding.”

\--------------------------------------------

“Why are we in the field?”

“I wish to fight you, Natsu.”

“No way! I’m all fired up now--”

“I would also like to fight you, Laxus.”

Laxus shrugged his shoulders and agreed.

“I mean, if you wanna--”

“Wendy, I’m fighting you as well.”

“Me? But I’m--”

She turned to face behind her and spoke again, “Rogue, you are fighting as well.”

“I have no reason to--”

“Gajeel--”

“Yeah, yeah. I get it.”

“Sting,” she said as she looked to her side.

“Of course!”

“Great,” Emi spoke as she walked to the center of the field. “You are fighting me all at once.”

Everyone looked at her and gasped. Cana spoke up, saying that she was being ridiculous. The wizards who were challenged looked shocked as well, most of them protesting. 

“I need to get stronger,” was her simple answer.

“But Emi,” Lucy tested, “why do you wanna fight them all at once? Isn’t that a little dangerous?”

“The Sins are able to defeat Acnologia with little problem. Acnologia is a dragon, and they are dragon slayers, which means that they have the capabilities to defeat a dragon. If I want to stand the slightest change against Wrath and Sloth, I need to be able to defeat the dragon slayers.”

“I still think you’re being a little too ambitious with this,” Gajeel groaned. “But whatever, I’m up for beating you.”

“Please, don’t hold back.”

Makarov stepped towards her and warned, “You all better not do this. It’s reckless and--”

“Fire dragon iron fist!”

Emiko jumped out of the way and kicked him in the gut, sending him flying back into the trees. Everyone sweatdropped. 

“Natsu,” Erza demanded, “the master said not to fight. You must listen to--”

“Raging bolt!”

“Laxus!” Makarov scolded. 

Emi cast her Fury Bolt, cancelling his attack. She caught movement in the corner of her eye, and quickly turned around to face Sting using his White Dragon’s Claw. She used her Earthworm spell to knock him off his feet. She faced Gajeel who was using his Iron Club and used her Thunder Missiles spell, using his iron against him. 

“You all stop this instant!” Makarov screamed. 

Rogue sighed and cast his Roar. Emi smirked and snapped her fingers, using Dispel to make it vanish before rushing at him and sweeping his feet. Everyone looked towards Wendy, who was staring at them with wide eyes. She looked to Emi and started to tell her that she shouldn’t be fighting like this, but Emi looked at her. 

“You need to help me train, Wendy. It’s the only way I’ll get stronger.”

“Wendy, follow your gut. Don’t fight,” Makarov pleaded. 

Emi jumped out of the way of Laxus’s Roar and landed right in front of Natsu. She quickly looked over her shoulder and used Shadow Form to grab his feet and fling him across the field. Rogue came at her again, and she cast her next spell.

“Globus lumen!”

A whip of light formed in her hand, and she flung him right next to Natsu. She cast her Tidal Wave spell to knock them all off their feet, and then cast Fury Bolt again to shock them all. Wendy made fists and looked torn. She finally looked up with a serious look.

“I’m sorry, Master Makarov, but I have to help her.”

“Wendy!”

“Sky Dragon Wing Attack!”

Emi whipped her head to the direction of her spell and gasped, barely dodging the hit. She quickly recovered once she landed on her feet next to where the spell hit. 

“Wind Blade!”

A sword formed in Emi’s hands, and she swept the air near Wendy, throwing her back into the rest of the crowd. She turned to face Natsu again as he reached her. He was using his Sword Horn spell, so Emi braced for the impact. She held her arms in front of her face and took the hit, throwing her back into the trees.

“Ha! Did you see that? I totally hit--”

“Water Roar!”

Natsu was thrown back just as far as Emi was. She scoffed and wiped her arms off. They could see that there were burns on her arms, so they all offered to stop so she could get some help, but Emi looked at them all with steel eyes.

“I do not need your pity. The Sins know no pity, so you mustn't show me any when we train.”

Laxus went to say something, but Emi cut him off by casting her Fissure spell, creating a huge opening in the earth and making them all fall in. She quickly healed herself, her burns disappearing within seconds. 

“Cataracta.”

The waterfall flowed into the crack. Gajeel used his club as a way to push himself out of the waterfall and back onto level ground. He let out his usual laugh and used his Iron Dragon’s Sword to rush at her. 

“Fluctus inpulsa,” she chanted as she formed a circle with her hands.

A lightning burst shot out of her hands and hit the top of his sword, sending violent shocks throughout his body.

“You know,” Gajeel coughed, “you’re playing kinda dirty using all this lightning against me.”

“Good.”

Natsu was the next one to jump out of the canyon-like formation, and he used his Brilliant Flame. She countered with her Water Rush, carrying him off to the side. Just as expected, Natsu got right back up and rushed at her again. 

“Let’s see whose fire is hotter, Natsu.”

She started to cast her Armageddon spell when she was kicked in the side by Sting. She picked herself off the ground just in time to dodge his Holy Ray. Laxus appeared behind her just barely missed striking her in the back. He went to use his Roar. Thinking of a quick plan, Emi ran towards Gajeel and Natsu and stood in front of them before quickly casting her Iron Wall spell, luring the lightning to strike the wall and the dragon slayers behind it. 

“Who knew you’d be a master tactician on top of all this,” Laxus laughed. 

“Forgive me,” she replied as she laughed back, “but it seems that I’m a little rusty with it. I’m no Mavis Vermillion.” 

Rogue had gone unnoticed until this point because he was traveling through the shadows. He jumped out and used his Shadow Dragon Slash. Emi quickly looked up to the sky and smiled. 

“Solar Spike!”

Rogue was starting to burn from the rays that hit him. She then threw him off to the side and trapped him using her Ice Make: Prison spell. He tried to break it, thinking that he could cut through the ice, but he was met with a smug smile from Emi.

“It’s no use. It’s not regular ice. This ice is able to partially keep Cain’s fire at bay.”

Wendy finally crawled out of the fissure and cast her Sky Drill spell. Emi used Dispel again and pinned her to the ground with her Ice Missiles. She struggled, but it was no use. Emi stood still and scanned her surroundings. She found that she was standing in the middle Laxus and Sting as they stood around her. 

“Who woulda thought we’d be working together,” Sting joked. 

Laxus smirked, his fist engulfed in lightning. Emi instantly recognized the spell, her eyes going wide. 

“Ad deum!”

A blinding light surrounded the three of them. Sting backed out of the spell, still blinded. He smirked and went at her once the light subsided. Emi and Laxus were fist to fist, staring at each other.

“Now who’s playing dirty?” Emi teased. “You were actually gonna use that during training? How rude.”

Laxus smirked back and defended, “You wanted us to go all out, didn’t you?”

Emi jumped back and cast her Turbinis, creating a tornado around Laxus. She paired it with her Cloudkill spell, sending poison into the tornado.

“Holy Nova!”

Emi groaned as she was surrounded by a blinding light that matched her own spell. She looked around, quickly thinking of a plan and casting Shadow Rocket to try to dull the light. She didn’t see Sting lunging at her through the light, and she was pinned to the ground with his knees on her arms. 

“It’s been a long time since this happened,” Sting mused.

“What, you getting the upper-hand in a match against me or you pinning me against something?” Emi playfully shot back. 

“Hm, maybe both.”

Once the light died down, everyone saw that Emi wasn’t able to move. She quickly changed everyone’s assumption, as she cast her Water Roar, pushing Sting off her and high above the ground. He was kicked in the stomach and sent flying back once again. 

“Dagger Strike,” Emi whispered, sending knives towards him and pinning him against a tree.

All of the spells died down, showing that all six dragon slayers were unconscious or incapacitated. 

“Holy shit,” Lucy breathed. “Did that just fucking happen?”

Emi stood up straight and walked back over to the group, standing in front of Makarov and bowing. 

“I apologize, master, but it was needed.”

Makarov sighed and dismissed it.

“That’s a real man!”

Emi turned to see Elfman cheering and laughed. She turned back around to face the injured dragon slayers and frowned. She walked over to Wendy and released the spell before going over to the others and casting her healing spell on all of them. Natsu was the first one to shoot up.

“I want a rematch! Fight me!”

Everyone sweatdropped at him, Makarov scolding him. 

“You were pretty good there, girly,” Gajeel praised. 

“No kidding,” Rogue groaned. “You never said your physical attacks hit like that, let alone your spells’ hit force.”

Laxus coughed a little, trying to get the rest of the smoke out of his lungs. Sting appeared behind Emi and held her shoulders. 

“Told ya she was strong,” he snickered.

“Jesus. You coulda warned us a little more,” Rogue scolded.

“Didn’t we just see her memories?” Sting countered. “You should’ve realized that before.”

All the dragon slayers moaned in discomfort. 

“Thank you all for sparring with me. I hope we can do this again sometime.”

Makarov spoke up, yelling, “That won’t be any time soon. You hear me?!”


	128. Training

“So...now what?” Lucy asked.

“We fight again!” Natsu shouted. “I’m gonna beat you this time!”

“Natsu!”

Makarov sighed as he watched them argue and turned towards Emi. He approached her as she sat under a tree with Sting and Lector, coughing to gain her attention. They all looked up, and after sensing the vibe, Sting and Lector left the two alone. 

“There is no question that you are powerful, but I just want to warn you about how power comes at a cost.”

“I know, Master Grampa. My power cost me my closest friends. I don’t intend for that to happen again. But I have to fight in order to protect those I hold dear.”

Mavis floated over to the pair. She settled down next to Emi on the ground and smiled at her.

“I believe that you want to improve, and I am prepared to help you, but you must not be so reckless. It may increase your power, but it leaves you open for attack.”

“I understand. I guess I’ve just been focusing on the Sins’ defeat that I’m not paying attention to my own body’s needs and limits.”

“Lady Emiko, who are you talking to?”

Sting and Lector had walked back over to the tree to check up on her. Emi smiled up at Lector as he floated in front of Sting and said that she was speaking with the master.

“Yeah but he didn’t even say anything.”

“Not that master,” Emi giggled. “I meant First Master.”

“F-First Master? Like a...ghost?” Lector choked out. 

“Well, yeah I guess.”

Sting and Lector paled and slowly backed away from the tree again. Makarov and Mavis both laughed at their “youthful energy” and turned back to Emi. 

“I would be willing to grant you the Three Great Fairy Magics if it would help eliminate the Sins.”

Emi gasped and waved her hands, stuttering, “Oh no, I couldn’t possibly ever use those! Those are sacred spells that are reserved for the most dedicated Fairy Tail members, and I just joined very recently.”

“Then if the need comes, I will temporarily grant you their power.”

“You’re not going to go alone, are you?” Makarov tested.

Emi folded her knees to her head and spoke quietly, “I must. I can’t put anyone in danger again. I made that mistake once. I won’t make it again.”

“Woah woah woah. There’s no way you’re going alone!” Sting yelled.

The three of them looked up to see all of Fairy Tail and Sabertooth standing around them.

“You should know by now that I’m coming,” Sting sternly remarked.

“Which means I’m coming!” Lector yelled.

“And Sting is our master, so we are also coming to support him.”

The rest of Sabertooth nodded in agreement with Rogue. Laxus was the next one to speak up.

“You’re not barging in there without me, you reckless ass. I made a promise to you and intend on keeping it.”

“And if Laxus is going,” Freed spoke, “then the Thunder God Tribe is going as well.”

“I’m going too! I’m gonna pound those assholes to the ground!” Natsu yelled.

“If Natsu’s going then I’m definitely going. His dumbass is gonna get himself in trouble if he goes alone.”

“Juvia is going if Gray is going.”

“And if Gray and Natsu are going together, I must go to stop any foolishness,” Erza declared. 

“Well if Erza is going, then I’m coming too,” Lucy stated.

“Our team needs to stick together, so Charle and I are coming as well.”

“Well you can’t leave me out. That would be so lame if I was the only dragon slayer that didn’t come. Plus I need to show up Salamander once and for all.”

“I’m coming too. You might need information that I can provide,” Levy spoke.

“If Levy’s going, then the rest of Shadow Gear will be there too!”

“Well you can’t count me out then,” Cana hiccuped.

“If she’s going then we gotta go too, right Macao?”

“That’s right. We can’t let these youngsters show us up.”

“I’m coming if my dad is fighting.”

“Well if Romeo is going then I have to go. I’m a man!”

Lisanna and Mira both spoke, “We’re coming if our brother is going.”

“And if my children are going,” Makarov ended with a smile, “then I must go to watch over them.”

Emi sat there, completely shocked. She tried to form words, but nothing came. Tears started to form in her eyes, and she completely broke down a few seconds later. Sting stepped away from everyone and kneeled down to her level, placing his hand on one of her cheeks.

“See? We’re all here for you. You’re not gonna push us away.”

She hugged him tightly as she continued to cry, and he rubbed her back and whispered in her ear until she calmed down. She gripped his shirt and looked up at him with dried tears on her face.

“You look funny,” Emi finally spoke, trying to lighten the mood.

Sting rolled his eyes and responded, “If you’re talking about the damage you caused when we fought, then yes. I do.”

They looked at each other once more, and Emi couldn’t help but smile when she saw his wide grin. 

“So it’s settled!” Natsu shouted. “We’re gonna kick some demon ass!”

\--------------------------------------------

“If we’re going up against the Sins, then I should tell you some information.”

They were all gathered in the inn with Emi and Levy standing in the front of the room. Levy and Emi quickly gave a rundown of the basic power structure of the Book of Zeref, reminding everyone where the Sins stood in terms of power.

“Now I’ve already dealt with Envy, Lust, Pride, Greed and Gluttony. That means Wrath and Sloth are left. It won’t be easy: Wrath and Sloth are the two most powerful demons of the Sins.”

“You’ve seen their basic power from her memories, but you should know that there’s more than that.”

“It’s true. Sloth is the strongest in terms of strategy and wits. Even if his power is his planning, don’t be fooled. He has immense power and magic. Wrath is a different story. He leaves the planning to Sloth, as they always travel together. Wrath has immense physical and magical power. He doesn’t hold back and he’s not afraid to attack other demons to assert dominance. Which means…”

“If we are somehow able to get Wrath to turn on Sloth, then we might be able to eliminate Sloth easier.”

“And if we take care of Sloth without exerting too much magic power, then we will be more prepared to fight Wrath.”

“I have a question,” Natsu spoke as he raised his hand.

Everyone looked at him in shock, thinking that he wasn’t paying attention. Emi raised her eyebrow and asked him to speak.

“When do I get to fight you again?”

The group sweatdropped and Lucy smacked him on his hand. 

“Natsu,” Emi laughed, “I promise I’ll fight you after it’s over if we both make it out alive.”

“Well of course we’re gonna make it out alive!”

\----------------------------------------------

“Again!”

“Crimson Lotus: Exploding Flame Blade!”

A sword appeared at Natsu’s throat and he screamed in frustration.

“Are you kidding me?! This is the third time!”

“Your stance is way off, Natsu. You have to make it more circular.”

“That makes no sense! It always works before, so what am I doing wrong now?!”

“Listen Flamebrain, you’re against someone who took out demons now, not some ordinary wizard. You should’ve expected some trouble.”

“You wanna go?!”

“Why don’t you take a break, Natsu. I’ll start with Gray’s training while you rest.”

Natsu grumbled and stalked over to a nearby tree where everyone was sitting in groups.

“That was so cool, Natsu!” Sting shouted. “That’s the same move you used against us, right? Man that sure packs a punch.”

“Dude, chill.”

Sting glared at Rogue and waved Natsu over to sit by him. Rufus smirked and said that he now believed that Sting would idolize Natsu. 

“Ice-Make Unlimited: One Sided Chaotic Dance!”

The group continued to watch as they were all sparring against Emi. Gray was quickly pushed to the ground by her Ice Missiles.

“Why can’t I break these?! This is so stupid.”

“It’s not ordinary ice. You would have a harder time breaking it, but it’s not impossible.”

She walked over to Gray and released her spell before offering her hand and pulling him up. She created a small cat out of ice and handed it to him.

“When you go back over there, I want you to try your best to break this ice with your magic.”

He groaned and sat back under the tree. Natsu teased him about his failure, and Erza had to break it up. Wendy hesitantly approached the training area and waited for her instructions. 

“Would it be okay if we focus on your healing magic? You’re the only one out of them all that had the power to heal, and that’s gonna be critical in the battle.”

Wendy excitely nodded her head, but her eyes filled with confusion when she was handed a fish. 

“Wendy, give us the fish!”

“This fish has been injected with demon magic. I want you to reverse the spell and bring the fish back. You can do that while you sit with everyone. Can you get Rogue and Sting?”

The Twin Dragons stepped into the area and eagerly waited for their instruction. 

“So what’re we doing, teacher?” Sting playfully asked.

“You’re practicing your Unison Raids.”

The dragon slayers looked at each other and shrugged before preparing their spell.

“Don’t be afraid to aim it at me. I can cancel it if I find it too powerful.”

“Holy Shadow Dragon Flash Fang!”

Everyone looked up in shock as they aimed a Unison Raid at Emi. Makarov and Mavis had their mouths hung open. The Fairy Tail masters were about to intervene when they saw the spell completely disappear. They all looked on and saw that the dragon slayers were laying on their backs on the ground with Emi standing over them. 

“She was able to stop a Unison Raid?” Rufus questioned. “I have no memory of that.”

“Yes you do because I stopped it too!”

Emi, Sting and Rogue all came under the tree and sat down, taking in deep breaths. 

“Rufus, remind me to give you some books to read. They have spell demonstrations.”

He nodded and laughed when he saw that Sting had nuzzled his head into Emi’s neck, saying, “I have no memory of Sting acting like this.”

Sting faced him and stuck out his tongue. Emi sighed and laid back on the grass. 

“Tired?”

“I need a break. We’ve been doing this all day.”

“Wanna go to the gardens?”

Emi shot up from the ground and stood up with a smile on her face. 

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Sting laughed.

“Wait! You’re seriously gonna leave us? We’re supposed to be training!”

“Natsu, we’ve been training all day. Everyone is out of magic energy.”

He groaned and stood up, grabbing her hand and tugging her out of the field. Sting did a double take.

“Hey! Where are you taking her?”

“To the gardens.”

“But that was supposed to be just--”

Emi just smiled back at him and started laughing when she saw his annoyance. 

\-------------------------------------------

“Woah, what’s this one?”

Emi crouched down next to Natsu and started explaining the different flowers he pointed to. Lector started running around the gardens with Sting chasing after him to make sure he didn’t touch anything poisonous. 

“Hey, isn’t that the princess?” Natsu asked suddenly.

Emi looked over to see Hisui standing by the fountain. She smiled and stood up, telling Natsu that she'd be back, and made her way over to the fountain. She cleared her throat to draw Hisui’s attention. The princess raised her gaze to Emi and smiled. 

“Oh hello. You were at the ball, right? I never got your name.”

“Hey Em, do you--”

Hisui looked over to Sting and smiled, asking, “Oh, is she with Sabertooth? I haven’t seen her at any other Magic Games.”

“Actually, I’m with Fairy Tail, but you don’t know me for that. We’ve met before. I believe it was your birthday about four years ago.”

“I’m sorry, I don’t remember you.”

“I’m not surprised, Princess,” Sting said as he smiled. “She never showed her face.”

“Wha--”

She looked at Emi in concentration. Emi just smiled brightly.

“I always wore a cloak, so you--”

“No way,” Hisui breathed. “You’re...alive? The Cloaked Demon is alive? I thought that you were all taken out by that dark guild. I thought that Sting was the only one who...I can’t believe this. You’re really here. You’re definitely a girl. And pretty!”

Emi started panicking when she saw that the princess started to cry. The guards immediately came marching over, but Hisui waved them off. 

“These are tears of joy. The person I looked up to and loved is actually alive. I cannot express how grateful I am to be in your presence.”

“What’s the big deal anyway?” Natsu spoke up as he leaned his arm on Emi’s head. 

“I thought she was dead this entire time. She was my favorite person in the kingdom. I’m just so happy that I was able to meet my friend again.”

Hisui stepped closer to Emi and hugged her. Emi laughed and returned the hug. 

“Thank you,” Hisui whispered. “Thank you for not leaving me alone. You were my first real friend. The first person to treat me like someone that wasn’t the princess.”

“So, did you really not think I was a girl?”

“Em, give it up.”


	129. Storm

“How do we find them?” Lucy asked.

“We don’t. They’ll find me. Well actually...they’ll probably go right for Sting.”

Everyone looked off in the distance to see Sting and Natsu goofing off in the field. They all sweatdropped.

“Is actually qualified to be a guildmaster?” Lucy muttered.

“It might not seem like it, but he took out Master Jiemma in one blow,” Orga explained.

“And I don’t have any memory of Master Jiemma being defeated before that.”

“Hey Natsu, look at this. I can totally catch this rock with my mouth.”

They all turned to the rest of Sabertooth with blank looks.

“We never said he was mature,” Rogue muttered.

“He’s serious when he has to be,” Emi defended. “I’m glad that he’s able to still enjoy life at the same time. I have no doubt that he’ll put up a fight.”

“You’re talking like he’s already dead.”

“They’ll make sure of it.”

“Wait wait wait. Are you saying that Sting is gonna die?”

“Sting and I have already discussed this with each other. The Sins are vicious and calculating. We’ve made a decision about the situation.”

Sting and Natsu had rejoined the group and Sting put his arm around Emi’s shoulder and gave her a side hug, wearing a childish grin. 

“You’ll never guess what happened.”

“You tried to catch a rock with your mouth, and you got hurt.”

Sting chuckled nervously and looked away sheepishly. Emi quickly healed him and smacked him on the arm, scolding him for being careless. The group looked on, all wondering how he was able to still seem so happy given his situation. 

“Hey guys, why don’t we go watch the fireworks tonight?”

“Sting, there’s no fireworks anywhere,” Gray stated.

“So? We’ll make our own!”

They all looked to Emi to see that she looked annoyed.

“How many times do I have to tell you not to use my spells for your enjoyment?”

“Come on, Em. It’ll be fun. Think of it as a celebration of life or whatever.”

\--------------------------------------------

Emi was sitting on a rooftop, looking up at the clear night.

“What are you doing up there?”

“Watching the stars. What are you doing down there?”

Laxus chuckled and said that he was looking for her. She jumped down from the roof and stood at Laxus’s feet. He turned around and started to walk through the clear street, waving for her to follow. 

“Mystogan isn’t the actual Mystogan, is he?”

“No,” Laxus laughed, “he’s the Jellal of Earthland. The real Mystogan apparently returned to Edolas. He’s like a prince or whatever.”

“Where are we going?”

“I figured we could get some training in.”

“At two oclock in the morning?” Emi questioned with a raised eyebrow. 

“Danger doesn’t wait for an acceptable hour.”

Emi smirked and stopped walking.

“I won’t hold back.”

“I would say I don’t care but you can actually one hit kill me, so I think I’ll ask you to hold back a little.”

Emi laughed loudly and followed him to the field in town.

“You know, I think I have a better place. I don’t wanna disturb the townspeople. We can teleport there through the electrical currents.”

Laxus shrugged his shoulders, and they ended up in an abandoned village. Laxus recognized the rubble from Emi’s memory when fighting one of the Sins.

“Now you can really go all out,” Emi said as she turned towards him and took a fighting stance.

\-----------------------------------------------------

Everyone gathered around the inn, all waking up from the continuous and rather severe thunderstorm. Pantherlily was scared out of his mind, and everyone else was confused. 

“Why the sudden storm?” Lucy asked through a yawn. “It was nice and clear before we went to bed.”

The doors were kicked open, and Sting stood there looking pissed.

“Tell that guy to knock it off. We’re trying to sleep and Lector can’t sleep with all the noise.”

Fairy Tail looked at each other and scanned the room, finally noticing that Laxus was missing. 

“What on earth is that boy doing now?” Makarov shouted. 

“Wait. Where’s Emi?” Levy asked. “Is she with Sabertooth, Sting?”

“No. She said she was staying here.”

Sting’s eyes darkened and he let out a frustrated groan. Another loud boom was heard before multiple strikes lightning shot out of the sky. 

\-------------------------------------------------------

“Oh please, I know you can do better than that,” Emi taunted.

Lightning engulfed Laxus’s fists again and he rushed at her. His fists made contact with the ground again, and a huge thunder boom sounded. 

“Try it again, and this time, try not to miss,” Emi sang as she stood behind him. 

Laxus scoffed and cast the spell again. Another huge boom sounded. 

“This is fun! I’m finally able to stand up and beat you instead of standing there and yelling at you.”

He rolled his eyes, but a small smile formed.

“Ready to go again?”

“Are you actually gonna fight me this time or am I just punching the ground all night?”

Emi giggled and smirked.

“Fury Bolt!”

“Raging Bolt!”

The two spells collided and caused a tremor. Emi came at him with an earth spell. She knocked him back a few feet. 

“Lightning Dragon's Breakdown Fist!”

Laxus hit her head on, and a giant fist of lightning hit her as she held her arms in front of her. She flew into a neary building and slunk to the ground. After coughing a few times, Emi was able to stand and cross her arms. 

“Great. Now I have a headache. You’re rubbing my head when we get back to the inn.”

Laxus rolled his eyes and looked up to the sky to see that storm clouds were blocking the once clear sky. Emi stepped towards Laxus and placed her fist on his chest and lightly tapped.

\---------------------------------------------------

“Should we go out and look for them, master?” Mira asked. “It’s really late.”

“So? They’re just training,” Natsu dismissed.

“Okay smartass, how do you know that?” Gray threw back.

“Because I’m going to ask her to go out to train tomorrow night.”

A bolt of lightning hit in the distance as the sky continued to rumble.

\---------------------------------------------------

“Have you ever asked Master Grampa about your great-grandad? He used lightning magic too, right?”

Laxus nodded and said that they never really talked about him. Emi hummed and stood up.

“I think I have a spell that you can use.”

\--------------------------------------------------

The loudest boom sounded, and it sent shockwaves as far as the city of Crocus. The ground in the inn shifted and shook.

“What the hell is happening out there?” Lucy shouted. “Sting, what kind of spell is that?!”

“It’s not her. That one was Laxus.”

“I’ve never witnessed that much magic power coming from any of his attacks. And that’s saying a lot. His attacks already emit huge amounts of magic power,” Levy shared. 

Makarov recovered from his shock and mumbled, “That felt a lot like…”

\------------------------------------------------

“Should we go back before they miss us? We’ve been out here for a couple hours.”

He hummed and yawned, picking up his coat and making his way to the exit of the ruins. A huge bolt of lightning struck right outside the inn, shaking the entire building. Makarov stomped over to the door and flung it open to see Emi standing there smiling. 

“Was that you?” Lucy asked, shocked. “Where’s La--”

Another huge bolt of lightning landed in front of the building, revealing Laxus. 

“Ha! I told you I was faster.”

He just huffed and walked into the inn, listening to Emi’s smug laughter. 

“What in god’s name were you doing in the middle of the night?” Makarov demanded. 

“Don’t worry, Master Grampa. We were testing out some spells.”

Makarov sighed and told them to get inside. 

Lector floated over to Emi and complained, “Lady Emiko, I couldn’t sleep.”

“Oh no. I’m sorry Lector. We can go to bed now if you want.”

“Are you coming to our inn now?”

“If it’ll help you sleep.”

Lector’s face lit up and he grabbed one of her arms with both his paws and started tugging towards the door.

“I’m gonna sleep very well, yes.”


	130. Black Dragon

“Where are we going?” 

Emi just smiled at Sting and continued to tug him along. She weaved through the usual crowds of Crocus and arrived at the park. Sting laughed as he realized what they were doing. He teased her, but she just giggled and continued to pull him until they were standing under a big tree. They sat down under the tree, Emi pointing at the sky.

“Watching the clouds is always calming. I’m gonna miss it.”

“I promise we’ll have a whole day of cloud watching once we take care of the Sins,” Sting soothed.

“But this might be the last time we can both watch. I mean, do you really wanna go through with this? It’s dangerous, and we could both end up dying.”

“You’ll die if you kill all the Sins. I’ll die protecting you to my last breath, so that’s not gonna happen.”

“That’s the problem,” Emi muttered.

Sting looked at her with a lopsided grin and jumped up, holding out his hand and pulling her up.

“Well we better get practicing if we’re gonna use it, yeah?”

\--------------------------------------------------------------

“Fight me!”

Natsu ran right up to Emi as soon as she returned to the inn. Emi smiled, amused.

“Sure.”

“Oh hell yes!”

“No more fighting you two!” Makarov shouted. “You’ve fought enough.”

“Yeah I guess you’re right,” Emi admitted before turning back to Natsu and smirking. “I guess this means we can’t fight Natsu, but I’m sure the master would be fine with _training_.”

Makarov’s mouth hung open as Natsu cheered and dragged her out to the park. 

“She used to be so obedient,” Makarov muttered. “What the hell happened?”

Laxus laughed loudly from the back of the room.

“She’s never been the obedient type, Gramps. She was just mellowed out because she didn’t have magic.”

\----------------------------------------------------

“Fire dragon iron fist!”

Emi grabbed his fist in her hand and canceled the spell. Natsu groaned and went to use his Talon, but he was swept off his feet by her Shadow Form. 

“Natsu,” Emi laughed as she looked down to see that he was groaning from the harsh impact on the ground, “what do you think about learning a new spell?”

Natsu’s eyes lit up and he was immediately back on his feet with his fist in the air. 

\---------------------------------------------------

“Come on come on come on co--”

“Easy Em,” Sting laughed. “Where are we going?”

Emi led them to the bookshop near the center of the city and pressed her face against the window. They saw the shopkeeper start stocking the books and Emi excitedly tapped on the glass. As soon as the owner unlocked the door, Emi rushed inside and went straight for the books that were just put away.

“I got it!”

She ran over to the counter and purchased the book before skipping back over to Sting and pushing the book up to his face.

“Look at it!”

Sting backed up a bit so he could actually read the cover and laughed when he saw the title, _Ishgar’s Threats: A Brief History on Demonic Manipulation and Other Incidents_.

“What’s that about?”

“It should be something that we can use to research the different abilities of Wrath and Sloth. I can’t believe they finally have it.”

“Well then let’s get you back so you can read it.”

\------------------------------------------------------

“Okay,” Levy started as she clapped to gain everyone’s attention, “we have some new information.”

“That’s great you guys!” Lucy exclaimed. “Will it help us in battle?”

“It should,” Emi replied.

Levy spoke up again, “According to this book, Sloth has the ability to summon different weapons--”

“Like Erza?” Gray interrupted.

“Not exactly,” Levy explained, “it’s more of weapons than armor. He can summon weapon attacks instantly instead of armor to boost his abilities. His weapon attacks can break magic barriers, so protection spells are unlikely to work.”

“In addition, he has his own barriers that work as suffocation chambers, as you all saw in my memories,” Emi reminded. “He’s cunning and his tactical planning skills can rival First Master’s. He’s one of the strongest for a reason. We need to find a way to protect ourselves from his attacks without using shield magic. We also need to somehow find a way to be a step ahead of his planning the entire time.”

“Didn’t you say something about having Wrath defeat him?” Mira asked.

“Yes, Wrath is easy to anger, as you probably figured from his name. He has a temper and doesn’t like being questioned or tested in battle. He relies on Sloth for strategy, but he does his own thing when it comes time. We need to get him to snap in battle, but it has to be aimed at Sloth. If he loses it against us it’s all over.”

“Wrath has increased magical abilities with heightened emotions,” Levy continued. “He has the ability to cancel spells instantly, much like Emi’s Dispel. However, he is also able to summon the exact same spell instantaneously and cast it at his enemies. It’s basically Deflection magic, but it’s stronger because he infuses it with his demonic abilities. He also has Destruction magic, so he can break whatever he aims his magic at.”

“He uses black flames as well. They are rumored to be stronger than Cain’s but I don’t believe that to be true.”

“Wait, why?” Gray asked, confused.

“Everyone knows blue flames are the hottest,” Emi said as she smirked. 

Everyone looked at her before turning back to Sting to see he was nodding in agreement. 

“So now what do we do with all that?! I’m so confused.”

Lucy smacked Natsu on the arm and told him to pay attention. Laxus stood up.

“It means,” he said as he looked at Natsu, “we need to find out some way to get around his spell deflection. We can’t cast powerful spells at him if he just cancels them and aims them at us.”

“Which also means you can’t go rushing in there and start attacking with no plan, Flamebrain.”

“So what do we do if we can’t attack him?” Freed asked. “I’m able to use my Letter magic to come up with enchantments if it’s necessary.”

Mavis walked to the front of the crowd and declared, “I have a plan.”

“That’s great!” Cana shouted. “Now we know we’ll win for sure.”

“Uh, nobody said anything,” Rufus stated, eyes filled with confusion. 

“Oh, oops,” Mavis giggled before walking over and standing right at Sting’s feet. “Can you tell him that I’m here?”

“Master, he can’t see you either.”

The Sabertooth group all looked at Emi and hesitantly spoke, “Uh…what?” 

“No!” Sting screamed. “I can’t deal with ghosts! Make her go away.”

“Sting, she’s crucial. That’s Mavis Vermillion, the Fairy Tactician. We need her help.”

Sting looked at Emi with a pale face and seemed to calm down, but he felt a cold touch on his hand. He jumped back and looked around frantically. 

“First Master,” Makarov started as he laughed, “leave the poor boy alone.”

“Very well. But I do find it rather fun.”

Lector flew over to Emi and stood on her head before waving his paw and declaring, “That’s okay, Sting. I’m not afraid of any ghosts. Lady Emiko will protect us, yes.”

“I have no memory of witnessing ghosts.”

Orga looked around and saw Emi smirking and poking Sting. Rogue raised an eyebrow but a ghost of a smile appeared on his face as he watched his usual “tough” friend cower at the thought of ghosts. 

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------

“We should go and find them already! I’m tired of waiting.”

“Natsu, stop yelling.”

Emi watched Lucy and Natsu argue and laughed before walking over to Rufus and handing him a book. 

“What’s this?”

“It’s a book on Exorcism magic. I figured you’d be able to read up on it and figure out how to use it.”

Rufus smiled smugly and made his way over to the corner to start reading. 

“Hey Cana, do you still have the Fairy Glitter?”

Cana lifted her arm to show the black markings on her arm. 

“Master Mavis, who else knows the Three Great Fairy Magics?”

“Master Makarov and Laxus are able to use Fairy Law, and Cana can use Fairy Glitter.”

Emi closed her eyes for a minute and breathed out before snapping her eyes to Laxus and pointing at him.

“You’re practicing.”

“Uh, you do know how Fairy Law works, right?” Laxus questioned. “It won’t work unless someone is my enemy.”

“I’m obviously not making you practice the spell itself. That’s life threatening. But you have to be able to see the Sins are true enemies before we battle. There’s nothing worse than not being able to use such an important--”

“I already see them as my enemy. Don’t worry. I’m not gonna flop this time.”

Emi hummed in approval and turned to Wendy and Gray.

“Were you two able to do your tasks?”

Gray sighed and took out the ice to show that there was a small crack, saying that that was all he could manage to do. Wendy took out the fish to show that it was bleeding black, revealing that she was only partially able to take the demonic poison out. 

“You guys are doing great! Just practice some more.”

Natsu snickered, taunting Gray that he was obviously too weak to release Emi’s ice spells. Emi rolled her eyes and made her ice surround his feet, trapping him from moving.

“What the heck is this?!”

“What’s wrong, Ashy? Can’t get out?”

Natsu kept striking the ice with his magic, but it continued to hold his legs in place. He huffed and held his head up.

“Well I guess you leave me no choice,” he spoke seriously.

Everyone looked at him curiously. They all sweatdropped when they saw him try to eat the ice.

“Natsu! Don’t do that,” Emi panicked. “We need you to be able to fight any day now. We can’t afford for you to be bed ridden because you ate something other than fire.”

Natsu crossed his arms and raised his eyebrow at the white haired wizard. Emi looked back at him and gave him the same look. 

“Natsu, are you--”

“Fight me!”

Makarov stomped over to the two and made himself bigger. He gripped Natsu’s collar and yelled at him, saying that it was a bad time to be overly eager. 

“You’re gonna get killed if you keep up with this.”

“But Master Grampa--”

“That goes for you too young lady! No more fighting. Do you hear me?”

“Sorry master, but I cannot promise that.”

Emi smiled before grabbing Sting and Rogue and dragging them off to the woods, telling the exceeds to stay behind.

“Uh, where are they going?” Lucy hesitantly asked.

The group just watched them disappear behind the trees.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Em, where are we--”

“To practice.”

“You’re going to get in trouble with your master,” Rogue calmly pointed out, but they could both hear the uncertainty in his voice. 

“He’ll get over it. Now walk.”

“Can you at least tell us why Frosch and Lector couldn’t come with us?”

Emi stood in a small clearing that they walked near and pulled her hands up to the sky before chanting something. 

“Black Dragon: Chaos Assault!”

The Twin Dragons looked at the clearing, their mouths dropped and eyes widened.

“You want us to fight _that_?! Em!”

The dragon took form, it’s claws piercing the ground and its wings destroying trees surrounding the area. The dragon roared loudly before looking down to see Emi standing there with a smile on her face.

“Long time no see!” Emi happily greeted him. “I need your help training these two. Do you think you could spar with them?”

“They look scared shitless,” the dragon pointed out. “Are you sure they won’t wet their pants?”

“Hey! For your information, we’re dragon slayers!”

The dragon looked towards Sting and scoffed. This just ticked Sting off more, and he stomped in front of the dragon and pointed at it before he continued to yell at him. Rogue looked at Sting with an unimpressed look before stepping closer to the dragon.

“So how exactly are we supposed to fight an illusion?”

“Oh boy, you need not worry about that. I am capable of dealing damage to you very easily. I may be an illusion, but my dragon soul is bonded with this one here, which means I am able to become...real momentarily.”

“That makes no sense but I don’t even care right now. You’re getting beat to shit.”

Rogue pinched his nose and groaned at Sting’s antics. Emi looked amused.

“Just don’t kill him, okay?”

“I can’t kill an illu--”

“Wasn’t talking to you honey.”

\----------------------------------------------------------------

A loud noise was heard from the forest. All the dragon slayers immediately recognized it as a dragon’s roar. The others looked around confused.

“That’s a dragon!” Natsu shouted.

Mavis looked at Makarov and silently communicated with him. Makarov groaned and started stomping towards the forest, everyone on his tail. They were greeted by Sting being whipped at them full speed, narrowly missing the group and crashing through the trees.

“That’s it, buddy. I’m not holding back anymore!”

“Sting, what’s happening?” Lector shouted. 

“That _asshole_ over there keeps taunting us,” Sting replied as he pointed further into the forest. 

“Who?”

Rogue came flying back a few seconds later, crashing into Sting and sending them both through the trees. They both coughed and picked themselves up before glaring at the forest. Everyone heard another loud roar, and this one shook the ground and cleared a few trees.

“What the hell is going on?” Lucy screamed. 

The roars stopped and everything was silent. Emi slowly walked out of the trees and stood in front of everyone, smiling. Rogue and Sting started to protest when Makarov spoke up.

“What was that?”

“That was my friend, Erder.”

“W-What?” Evergreen stuttered.

“It’s that asshole dragon from the memories,” Sting explained, clearly pissed off. “He’s a real jerk.”

“You’re just mad because he fights better than you.”

Sting went to say something back when Rogue stepped forward. 

“Summon him again.”

“Absolutely not!” Makarov yelled. “Emi, you mustn’t--”

“I wanna fight him, too!” Natsu shouted.

“I think we all could spar with a dragon,” Gajeel added. “It might do us some good. We all saw how pathetic we were against the Eclipse dragons.”

The Fairy Tail master let out a frustrated sigh, mumbling that nobody was going to listen to him anyway. He waved Emi on and stepped back, leaning against a tree trunk. Emi quickly summoned the black dragon again, its roars shaking the area. 

“Well well, it seems you’ve come back for more, blondie.”

Sting rolled his eyes and started shouting at the dragon. Erder just laughed and continued to taunt him. Natsu stepped forward and rushed at him. 

“Oh? And who’s this?”

“I’m Natsu Dragneel, and I’m gonna beat you!”

“Dragneel?” Erder questioned before laughing again. “This should be interesting.”

Natsu started attacking the dragon with his fire, and he was quickly pinned under one of the dragon’s claws. Sting rushed at him and tried his White Dragon Claw, but it passed right through him.

“Now now blondie, are you forgetting I’m nothing but an illusion? Spells like that will only phase through me.”

“You’re a big asshole, you know that?!”

“Sting, yelling at him isn’t gonna help,” Rogue commented as he picked himself off the ground.

\-------------------------------------------------------

Fairy Tail and Sabertooth watched on as the dragon slayers were continuously thrown through the forest. 

“She certainly has a way of training,” Mavis commented.

Mira spoke up next, “I mean, it looks like it’s working.”

Laxus and Gajeel came flying at the group and whacked against a group of boulders. They both groaned and struggled to stand. 

“Man this guy is a big pain in the ass,” Gajeel muttered.

Laxus agreed, flashing himself back over to the clearing. Gajeel sighed and ran behind him.

“At least they seem eager to improve. I admire that about them.”

“This is nonsense,” Charle criticized. “All they’re doing is getting themselves beat up. There’s no point to this.”

“They’re working on teamwork, Charle,” Emi spoke as she appeared from nowhere.

“Emi, what do you mean?” Romeo asked as he pointed to the clearing. “They don’t stay over there long enough.”

Emi smiled and pointed to the clearing, showing them the mix of fire and lightning.

“They’re all working together and--”

Evergreen, Bixlow and Freed spoke up.

“Is that a…”

“...Unison Raid?”

“Between Natsu and Laxus?!”

“The more you train with someone, the easier it is to sync your senses.”

Natsu came flying at them, quickly followed by Sting. 

“This stupid prick,” Sting muttered before activating his Dragon Force and rushing back into the clearing.

Rogue crashed through the trees again and growled. 

“Hey, why don’t you try that spell?”

The shadow dragon slayer looked at his hands and sighed before nodding and running back to the dragon. A whine was heard, sounding like the dragon was hit. They could hear slight cheering from the clearing before all the dragon slayers were thrown back at once.

“Okay guys,” Emi giggled. “I think that’s enough for today.” 

They all moaned in discomfort, not protesting at all. Emi snapped her fingers and the dragon appeared in front of everyone. They all instinctively slunk away from the dragon. 

“Thanks for helping!” Emi said as she hugged Erder’s snout. 

He burst into smoke, but not before he made one last smug comment to the white dragon slayer. Sting jumped right up. 

“What did you just say to me?!”


	131. Unison

They were all gathered in the park again, much to Makarov’s dismay, and Emi and Laxus were leading a training session. 

“We wanna show you how to do a Unison Raid,” Emi explained.

“But I already know how to do one! This is so boring. Just fight me already!”

“Natsu, you did one Unison Raid,” Lucy scolded. “Please pay attention.”

“Okay...who has done one before?” Emi asked hesitantly.

Juvia, Gray, Lucy, Wendy, Natsu, Laxus, Sting and Rogue raised their hands. Emi sweatdropped and huffed. 

“See? We can just skip straight to the fighting!”

Emi smirked and slyly responded, “Oh? You wanna just skip ahead? I think we can do that.”

Laxus started laughing when he saw the evil glint in her eyes.

“You really shouldn’t be so mean to them,” Laxus playfully chided.

“Who says?” Emi shot back.

The two ended up bickering as the rest of them watched on in confusion. 

“Weren’t they...just kidding around?”

Laxus ended up picking her up by the back of her shirt and placing her down with the rest of them. He gave a smug look towards her and crossed his arms as he stood in front of them again.

“You’re gonna be split up into pairs and you’ll practice your Unison Raids.”

The people who were already able to do Unison Raids all paired up with their partners. Emi clapped her hands to gain everyone’s attention. 

“Actually, what he means is that _we’ll_ be picking the groups for you to work in.”

“W-What?” Lucy stuttered. “But we can’t do--”

“That’s her point,” Laxus broke in. 

“You should be so in sync with all of your allies that you should be able to accomplish this with any of them. Your Unison Raid partner is not always gonna be around to do it. They might not even have enough magic energy left to participate in one. This is to widen your choices.”

“The groups are as follows: Juvia and Emi, Natsu and Orga, Lucy and Gajeel, Wendy and Rogue, Rufus and Gray, Cana and Yukino, Mira and Erza, and Sting and...me.”

“Oh come on!” Sting immediately complained. “We’re the least compatible of everyone!”

“Hey I didn’t make the groups,” Laxus defended. 

“Em, what the hell do you think you’re doing?”

Emi shrugged and explained, “You two need to learn to work together.”

Laxus rolled his eyes and stated, “I mean I don’t have a problem with it. You’re the one who can’t do it.”

Sting scoffed and stood up before standing toe to toe with the lightning mage.

“What is she thinking?” Lucy whispered. 

“They’re gonna end up killing each other,” Gray added. 

“Okay everyone!” Emi clapped again and stepped in between the two. “Let’s start!”

“Where is everyone else?” Erza spoke up.

“They’re off sparring with each other. Now shoo!”

\-----------------------------------------------------------------

“Juvia thinks that this isn’t working right.”

“We just gotta sync. Let’s breathe together.”

Juvia and Emi both closed their eyes and slowed their breathing until they were breathing at the same time. 

“Okay, let’s try again. I have a cool combination that I want to do with you.”

\-------------------------------------------------------------

“This should be easy! I just did one with Laxus the other day, and you guys are the same magic.”

“Actually, dragon slayers and god slayers have completely different magic. You should know that by now.”

“Well whatever it is, we’re gonna be great at this!”

“Then why have we been at this for an hour and not made any progress?”

“Because you’re doing something wrong.”

Orga huffed and smacked him down to the ground.

\---------------------------------------------------------

“So…”

“This is stupid. Why am I paired with you? I would have rathered the Salamander.”

“Hey! I’ll have you know I’m just as capable as at Unison Raids as Natsu. I was able to do it two different times.”

“Fine. Summon your digging spirit or whatever.”

“Her name is Virgo!”

\----------------------------------------------------

“It’s nice to finally work with you, Mister Rogue.”

“You as well.”

“Should we start thinking of spells we want to combine?”

“Sure.”

They both sat down and faced each other. Rogue had revealed his new spell to Wendy, and she listened intently with sparkles in her eyes.

“That’s so cool, Mister Rogue! We should use that one.”

\--------------------------------------------------------

“Well it seems we keep running into each other,” Rufus started. “I have no memory of fighting and working with the same wizard.”

“So do you wanna do an ice spell combination or use one of your many other type spells?”

“We could try my Night of Falling Stars with some Ice Lances.”

“It’s worth a try.”

\---------------------------------------------------

“You’re a celestial wizard, right?” Cana hiccuped. 

“That’s right. Though I’m not as strong as Lucy.”

“I would say that we should pair it with my Fairy Glitter, but I think the masters would yell at us for it, so I’ll stick to my card magic.”

They both planned for a few minutes and came up with a tentative strategy.

\-------------------------------------------------

“Well it seems we’re working together for this one,” Erza calmly stated.

“I think this’ll be fun,” Mira happily replied. “We can use our rivalry to our advantage. We already know most of each other’s spells fairly well from all our fighting, so it should be easy to pick a combination.”

“Let’s try Halphas with my Heavens Wheel.”

“But the master said I’m forbidden to use that form.”

“This is fighting very powerful foes. I’m certain the master would allow it for this occasion.” 

\-----------------------------------------------------

Sting had been glaring at Laxus for the past 45 minutes with his arms crossed. Laxus just looked at him wearing a bored expression and mirrored crossing his arms.

“You know if you keep glaring at me like that we’ll never get anything done.”

“I don’t get why we’re even trying. There’s no way we’ll ever be able to pull it off.”

Laxus sighed and started to speak, “Listen man, I’m sorry about--”

_“Sorry? You’re sorry?”_

Laxus rolled his eyes and uncrossed his arms.

“Fine,” he declared, “if you wanna fight it out then I’ll be glad to. But after that we work on the Unison Raid or else she’s gonna kill me.”

Sting went to pounce at Laxus when something grabbed the back of his shirt. 

“What the fu--”

Sting looked behind him to see Makarov sized up and gripping at Sting’s collar.

“We’ve all been briefed on this kind of fighting, and having one of you die is not going to be productive for anything. Now I expect you to work together, whether it be as a mature master and a mature master’s grandson...or as two people who care deeply about Emi’s well-being. Make your choice.”

Sting growled and shook the hold off and glared at Makarov. He felt a cold touch on his arm and immediately paled.

“Tell her to stop doing that!”

“She said that you’re being childish,” Laxus taunted.

“What did you--”

“ _Laxus_ , stop egging him on and work together.”

Sting and Laxus looked at each other and groaned.

“I guess I have an idea.”

\-------------------------------------------------------------

“So how was everyone’s...wow you all look so tired,” Emi observed.

“We’ve been at this for five hours!” Natsu groaned. “When do I get to fight you again?”

“I’m way too tired to yell at you right now Natsu, so please stop,” Lucy moaned.

“I think you all made great progress! Do you wanna show everyone what you did?”

They all groaned and laid down on the grass.

“Okay,” Emi giggled, “maybe another time.”


	132. Picnic Bonding

“Why did you insist on dragging me out here?”

Emi giggled at Laxus and pointed to the flowers.

“Because I know how much you love the gardens.”

“How many times do I have to say that _you’re_ the one who loves it. I’m always dragged here and then you spend hours jumping around.”

She rolled her eyes and pulled him over to the fountain. Laxus sighed and closed his eyes when he felt something being pushed into his hands. He looked down and saw a sandwich.

“What are we--”

“We’re having a picnic! Isn’t that great?”

“Can I ask _why_ we’re having a picnic in the gardens?”

“Because I told her she could,” a voice spoke. 

They both looked to see Princess Hisui standing behind Laxus and smiling. She joined them, grabbing the sandwich that Emi handed to her. 

“Lady Emiko, there you are!”

Lector came flying at Emi full speed and ended up knocking her over, causing her and Hisui to laugh. Laxus looked at the exceed and it all came together in her head, so he glared at the white haired woman and went to say something when another voice spoke.

“Lector, you gotta be careful. We don’t wanna get hurt before the pic--”

Sting quickly scanned the group, and his eyes darkened when he saw Laxus.

“And what are _you_ doing here?”

“Sting, we’re all having a picnic!” Emi shouted excitedly.

“But why--”

Emi frowned at Sting and spoke in a dark tone, “You wanna have a fun picnic, _right_?”

Sting cowered under her stare and put his hands up.

“Great! Here’s your sandwich.”

Emi handed Lector and Sting their food and started to happily eat hers. Her and Hisui had started to joke around and talk about the past years. Lector had wandered off to look at the flowers, leaving Sting and Laxus to stare at each other in silence. 

“Em, why are we here?” 

She stopped talking to Hisui and turned towards the two and smiled. 

“Because everyone needs to be able to work together and trust each other. You two are arguably two of the most advanced among the group, and it’s important that you’re able to work together. I know you have your differences and grudges against each other, but you need to look past that.”

Sting groaned and fell back so he was laying on the ground. He leaned up on his forearms when he took in her words. He smirked and looked up at her.

He smugly asked, “You really think we’re the strongest?”

“Really? _That’s_ what you heard out of all that?” Laxus tested.

“You’re one of the strongest. Remember, Natsu and Gajeel were able to beat both of you.”

Laxus rolled his eyes and Sting tried to defend himself.

“Actually, Gajeel didn’t do anything against me. It was just Natsu.”

“Yeah,” Laxus laughed, “because that makes it all better. At least I needed to be beat by two of them. You got KO’d by one.”

“What did you just say to--”

Emi interrupted the fight by shoving another sandwich in front of Sting. He rolled his eyes and took it before laying down completely again. 

“Lady Emiko, look what I found!”

Lector came flying towards the group and held up white flower with a yellow center.

“That’s really pretty! Do you know what it is?”

“Can you tell me about it?”

“It’s a chamomile. It can be used as a natural remedy for all sorts of illnesses.”

Lector dropped the flower onto Sting’s head. He opened one of his eyes and questioned the exceed. 

“It’s so you can use it later. Lady Emiko said that you’re training.”

“Miss Demon--”

Emi laughed loudly before turning back to Hisui and speaking, “Please don’t call me that. You can just call me Emi.”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course. Besides, you’re a princess. You shouldn’t have to address a regular person with an honorific.”

Hisui smiled and nodded. They went back to talking, focusing mostly on what Emi had been doing the entire time. The princess listened intently when she heard that she had lost her memories.

“Do you...remember me?”

“I was able to regain all my memories very recently, so I remember.”

“Hey Em, do you have another sandwich?”

Emi rolled her eyes while smiling and rummaged through the basket and pulled out another wrapped sandwich, handing it to Sting.

“Lady Emiko, do you have a jelly sandwich?”

“Of course I do! How could I invite you to a picnic and not have a jelly sandwich?”

Lector smiled brightly and took the sandwich in his paws before taking a big bite. Sting rolled his head to the side and laughed when he saw that the exceed had breadcrumbs on his face. Emi seemed to notice as well. She carefully wiped his face with a napkin and smiled. Lector looked away embarrassed, but Emi just rubbed his head in comfort. 

“You guys really are like a family,” Laxus spoke up. 

Sting turned to the lightning dragon slayer and gave him his first genuine smile. 

“She’s like a mom to him most of the time,” Sting explained. “He really loves her.”

They both looked over to see that Lector was bringing flowers over to Emi and gathering them in a pile. Emi helped him sort them and started weaving the flowers into a necklace. Both dragon slayers looked on with small smiles on their faces. They looked at each other and gave a small nod before Sting laid down again and closed his eyes to take in the slight breeze. 

\----------------

“Is there a reason you’re dragging us around the city?” Laxus asked, slight annoyance in his voice.

“I figured we can all do a bonding exercise. We can work on your spells and hang out at the same time.”

Sting and Laxus looked at each other and sighed. They arrived in the field where Kira and Emi would spar and dropped the picnic stuff under the big tree. Sting and Lector instinctively laid down under the tree, leaving Emi and Laxus standing in the field. 

“Sting!”

He hummed and opened one of his eyes before smirking and closing it again.

“I guess some things don’t change,” Emi mumbled and turned to Laxus. “I guess we’re sparring again.”

Lightning engulfed Laxus’s fists and went to strike her when she countered with her Light Whip and dragged his fist to the ground. The force of his fist hitting the ground sent a large tremor across the field. 

“Hey, don’t go forming another storm,” Sting scolded. “Everyone is still recovering from the last one.”

“But that’s how the fight will go as long as he uses magic.”

Sting groaned and flipped up to his feet. He cracked his knuckles and joined them in the field. 

“I guess that means it’s my turn then,” he said as he smiled devilishly. 

Emi returned his smile, and Laxus sat under the tree to watch. Laxus looked over at Lector to see that he was intently watching the two.

“So you’re always traveling with Sting, huh?”

Lector looked up at him surprised before assuring him that they traveled together since they were both young. 

“Who do you think will win?”

“Sting is the strongest wizard I know...but Lady Emiko is really strong.”

“My bet is on her.”

“I think this will be a big battle, yes.”

They turned back to the fight to see that they were just starting. 

“Are you ready to lose, Sting?”

“I think you’ve been out of practice for a couple years. I’ve been training.”

They both smirked before rushing at each other. Blinding light, rubble and lightning all surrounded them once they were finished. Sting lay trapped under her feet as she stood on his wrists. 

“You’re lucky you’re light or else you would be squishing my hands,” he muttered.

Emi just smiled sweetly and shifted so she was standing beside him. 

“You wanna go again?”

“Hell no. My head hurts from all the lightning you shocked me with.”

\----------------------

“Were you two even able to come up with a _plan_ for your Unison Raid?” Emi huffed as she watched the two struggling. 

They both stayed silent and turned away from her. 

“We picked one but we couldn’t get it to work.”

“Holy and lightning magic...we could try something I read about, but it’s a close-range spell. That means that it’s super dangerous and really shouldn’t be--”

“Teach us,” both Laxus and Sting spoke.

Emi smiled and dragged them both to the edge of town. She turned back to both of them and laughed.

“I would say we could take the train, but I don’t think either of you would be able to handle it,” she teased. 

They both looked at her and scoffed. She revealed that she would teleport them to the same rubble that Laxus and Emi had trained in last time. Once they were there, Emi stood in the center of the destroyed city and waved them over. 

“It’s a holy spell that I read about. As I said before, it’s a close range spell. In fact, you would need to be touching them while you cast the spell for it to work.”

Sting and Laxus made eye contact before sweatdropping. 

“Isn’t the whole point of fighting the Sins to _stay away_?”

“Hey, you two were the ones that said you wanted to learn it.”

“Fine, fine. Teach us.”

“Laxus, I think you should be able to paralyze the target using your lightning long enough for Sting to cast the spell. That’s the way it would work.”

“And how would he do that?”

“I can just electrocute them,” Laxus said as he shrugged his shoulders. 

“The spell is called Smite, and it has the potential to kill them. Either that or knock them unconscious.”

“How do we decide?”

“It’s based on their power, which means that if you use it against the Sins and it works, it would most likely kill them because of their strength.”

Sting and Laxus looked at each other and smirked.

“Let’s do this.”


	133. A Day With Fire

“So what do you wanna do today?”

“Uh, train?”

Emi rolled her eyes at Laxus. They were getting ready for the day, and Emi kept pestering the lightning mage with ideas for the day. He was clearly ignoring her at this point, so she decided to take matters in her own hands. 

“Give it back, brat!”

She just giggled and continued to run around the room while she held his shirt. Laxus huffed and tried to catch her, but her newfound (or newly remembered) agility allowed her to duck and dodge all his attempts. She got an idea and smirked before she quickly opened the door and sprinted down the stairs.

“Hey, get back here!”

Emi came running down to the inn’s main room and stood at the end of the stairs.

“Uh, Emi what are you doing?”

The white haired woman smiles smugly.

“Oh, just deciding what to do today,” Emi coolly replied. 

Laxus came stomping down the stairs with no shirt on.

“Give it back!”

Emi giggled again and rushed behind Erza. Everyone looked between the two and saw Laxus’s shirt in Emi’s hand. Makarov pinched his nose at the two’s antics. Erza seemed to catch on.

“Emi and Laxus, you two should really--”

Lightning came flashing at her and Emi. They both gasped before Emi cast her Dispel. 

“Laxus, that’s so mean,” Emi whined. 

“Then give it back.”

“No.”

“Give it.”

“No,” she giggled again.

“Give it back.”

“I’ll give it back once you decide what to do today.”

He scoffed before he seemed to remember something. 

“Hey Natsu, didn’t you wanna train with Em or something?”

Emi narrowed her eyes at the lightning mage when Natsu started cheering. 

“There. I decided.”

“That’s so cruel. It was supposed to be what we were gonna do.”

He smirked and held out his hand. Emi reluctantly handed him back his shirt, but not before crossing her arms and slightly pouting. 

“Let’s go! I’m all fired up now!”

\-----------

Emi sighed the whole way to the training grounds. Natsu happily walked beside her, but he finally noticed her demeanor.

“What’s up with you? Aren’t you excited to train?”

“It’s just...we’ve been training nonstop. I know that the Sins are almost impossible to beat, but I just wanted to have some time off, you know?”

Natsu stayed silent for a minute before he turned to the woman and asked, “You used to live here right?”

“Yeah, why?”

“So that means you know all the best places to eat!”

“But don’t you want to train--”

“I can’t possibly train when I have an empty stomach,” he played off as he tapped his stomach.

Emi smiled at his plan and tugged him towards what she remembered to be the best restaurant in the city. The people there recognized Natsu from the Games and congratulated him on Fairy Tail’s victory. Emi laughed as she watched Natsu order almost the whole menu and leaned back in her seat. 

“Thanks Natsu.”

“Hm? For what?”

“For giving me a break.”

“Hey that’s no problem. I mean, you’re paying so I should really be thanking you.”

“Yeah but I really appreciate...WHAT?!”

“What?” Natsu asked as he had food in both his hands.

“Since _when_ am I paying for all this? Coming here was your idea!”

He shrugged his shoulders and looked at her funny when she took one of the plates away from him.

“What’re you--”

“If I’m paying then I deserve to at least have some more.”

Natsu grinned wide.

\----------------

“Man I’m full,” Natsu happily stated.

“I think my wallet is the exact opposite,” Emi muttered.

“Anything else you wanna do before we train?”

“I can’t afford anything else.”

“Don’t you like the park? We could go there before we train.”

Once they arrived at the park, Natsu jogged over to the ice cream stand. He returned a few minutes later and handed her an ice cream cone.

“How can you possibly still be hungry?”

“This isn’t food. This is _ice cream_.”

“You and Sting really are a lot alike. It’s kinda creepy.”

He gave his signature grin and waved her over to his side. They ended up walking around the park for a half hour, just talking and goofing around. They made their way to the training grounds, Natsu cheering and Emi shaking her head at him.

“I wanna learn a really cool spell. I heard you gave Laxus and Sting a new one.”

“But I already taught you a new spell. And their spell was a Unison Raid. Which reminds me, how are you and Orga coming along with yours?”

“Oh!” Natsu cheerily replied. “We can’t do it at all.”

Emi blinked a couple times before she sweatdropped. 

“I guess we’ll just stick to individual spells for you then,” she mumbled. “Let’s try your Flame Blade again first.”

Natsu readied himself to cast the spell, and fire started to shoot out of his body. Emi summoned her sword and went to get closer to Natsu, but the flames started to thrash around, forcing her back. She smiled at the dragon slayer and waved his spell off. Natsu looked at her expectantly, waiting for her feedback.

“That was good,” she praised before joking, “I think your fire has a mind of its own.”

Natsu cheered and raised his fist in the air.

“Why don’t we practice your new spell? And then depending on how you do with that, I might teach you this cool new spell I saw.”

“Oh hell yes. I’m all fired up!”

\------------

“You have a lot more energy than I expected.”

“I can keep going.”

Natsu waved his arms around, fire surrounding him in a circular motion before it took form. Emi jumped back, dodging the attacks. She used her Water Roar to combat the creatures, but her water wouldn’t keep them back. Emi smiled and continued to dodge, slipping through the barrage of fire creatures to stand in front of Natsu.

“That was really good! My water wouldn’t work at all.”

“Really? That’s great. I’m really…”

Emi looked up and saw that Natsu looked exhausted. She rushed behind him and caught him as he fell backwards. 

“Man, you really know how to push yourself to exhaustion.”

\------------

“There you are!” Lucy shouted. “We’ve been worried about you two all day.”

Natsu rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment before going to tell them that he had passed out when Emi spoke up.

“Natsu just brought me to this cool restaurant and we spent a little time there.”

He looked at her with a questioning look, but she just lightly tapped his arm and skipped over to Laxus.

“We’re doing something tomorrow. And no training!”

“Fine, fine.”

“Lady Emiko, you’ll never believe what we found!”

Fairy Tail looked towards the front door and saw Lector and Frosch standing there. She quickly made her way over to the Sabertooth exceeds and asked them what they were doing at the inn. Lector handed her a book and puffed out his chest.

“I found this really cool book on ice magic, yes.”

“That’s great! This’ll be really helpful.”

“Fro thinks so, too!”

“Frosch!”

They all looked to see Rogue struggling for air as he presumably ran to catch up with them. They greeted him and ushered him inside. He took an empty seat and leaned back.

“So what brings you here?”

“I came to...talk…about the new spell.”

“Let’s go over there and talk.”

“Hey Lector,” Mira started, “where’s Sting?”

“He had master business to take care of, yes.”

“That must suck,” Cana slurred. “He’s too young for all that boring work.”

Makarov admitted that he pitied the dragon slayer as well, speaking from experience.

“Bye guys!”

The group looked over to see that Rogue and Emi were waving at the front door. 

“Wait, where’re you going? It’s super late.”

“Which means it’s the perfect time for a shadow dragon slayer, don’t you think?”

They looked to each other before sighing and wishing them luck. Rogue and Emi walked in silence for most of the way before he spoke up, asking about how his spell would help.

“I taught Natsu a similar spell, but with fire of course. It’s basically the same beast summoning, but yours would be a little more difficult to disperse because they’re made of shadows. Fire can be put out, but if someone strikes a shadow, it’ll just phase through.”

He nodded and followed her to the training spot. 

“Give it all you got,” Emi smirked.


	134. Flower Gardens

Emi woke up and looked around.

“Laxus?”

She peeked beside the bed to see that he was laying on the floor with a scowl.

“What’re you doing down there?” Emi laughed.

“You kicked me off. Twice.”

She giggled and apologized before hopping out of bed and standing beside him. She helped him up and grabbed her clothes to change. Once she got dressed, she came back into the room and stood in the middle of the room.

“So what’s the plan for today?”

“We can go to the gardens if you want, but I’m only staying for an hour.”

“I was actually gonna go with Sting tonight, but if you wanna go we--”

“Good. That means I don’t have to. We can do something else instead.’

Emi rolled her eyes and asked him what he wanted to do. He shrugged his shoulders and suggested that they walk around the city and see what there was to do. She nodded and skipped down the stairs. 

“Hey Emi, can you make some spicy cookies? It’s been so long.”

“Natsu, it’s been like a week,” Lucy shouted.

Emi smiled at Natsu and told him that she would make sure to make them soon. 

“We’re going out! Oh, Master Grampa? Do you think I could talk to you later?”

Makarov nodded suspiciously but agreed nonetheless. Laxus and Emi left the inn and wandered around the city. They eventually came across a flower cart, and Emi bought a flower necklace made of buttercups. 

“Laxus, do you want--”

“No way in hell.”

She tsked and paid for the necklace before dragging him through the streets. Laxus studied her face and saw that her eyes looked slightly different from before she regained her memories. To him, they looked...empty.

“Hey, uh Em?”

“What’s up?”

They stopped in the middle of the street. Emi smiled brightly at him, but she didn’t have the small twinkles in her eyes like she did before.

“Are you okay?”

“Why would you ask?”

“Because you just seem different.”

“Different? From yesterday?”

“No, but since you’ve--”

“Regained my memories? It’s only expected. I’ve remembered everything that brought me to this point, including the many deaths and tragedies that I’ve witnessed or caused. I’m trying my best to return to normal, but I guess anxiety and dread are standing in the way.”

Laxus patted her head and gave her a small smile. 

“We’re all here. And I don’t know if you already know this,” Laxus joked, “but I don’t think Sting’s gonna let anything happen to you.”

She laughed and nodded.

He continued, “I’m not either, just so you know.”

They made eye contact with each other and shared a knowing look. 

“Well,” Emi said as she clapped, “I say we have another picnic!”

\-------

“Miss De--I mean Emi!”

Laxus and Emi turned around to see Princess Hisui running towards them. 

“Princess, what’s wrong?”

“I need your help with something. Do you think you could come help me?”

Laxus and the princess looked at each other and smiled before Laxus turned to Emi and insisted that she go.

“Are you coming?”

“Uh, I mean I guess I can come for the walk.”

They followed Hisui and they ended up by the royal gardens. Hisui smiled wide before suddenly yanking Emi into the gardens. Emi went to question her when she looked around and saw that there were dimly lit lacrima surrounding the gardens. She scanned the scene in wonder and smiled wide.

“Princess, this is beautiful. How did you--”

She heard a soft chuckle from behind her and saw Sting standing there.

“She didn’t. I did. Well...with some help.”

“Sting, this is…”

She didn’t finish her sentence because she started to spin around to look at all the lights. 

“Lady Emiko! Look what I made!”

Lector came flying towards her and dropped a small flower crown on her head. He then retreated to Sting and sat on his head.

“I worked all day on it, yes.”

“It’s beautiful. Thank you.”

Sting rubbed the back of his head and gave a lopsided grin before holding out his hand. She smiled and took it before turning back to Laxus.

“Did you know about this?”

Laxus smirked and responded with a “perhaps” before waving her off and retreating back to the city.

“I’ll tell Gramps that you’ll talk to him tomorrow.”

Emi nodded before turning back to Sting.

“So why did you do all this?”

“Well I figured that we might as well spend the time we have together in a meaningful way, and the princess suggested something like this, so here we are.”

He positioned them so they could dance and started to gently sway as he looked lovingly into her eyes. She blushed slightly, but smiled. Lector had floated over to a patch of leadworts and watched on. 

“So,” Sting laughed, “having fun powering everyone up?”

“It’s nice to help people improve.”

“But?”

“It’s so exhausting,” she breathed. “I know that it’s necessary, but it’s a lot to do in a short amount of time.”

“Have you been able to train yourself?”

“A little, but I need some time to practice a couple techniques that--”

“You read about?” Sting finished.

“No. I was taught a couple of spells a long time ago, but I could never master them. I think it’ll be important to know them.”

“Why don’t you take tomorrow? We can all work on our stuff individually. You need time to prepare too.”

Sting leaned down and kissed her forehead, and she hummed before leaning up and bringing their lips together. Sting had a goofy grin on his face when she pulled away. He gave her a devilish look.

“So I was thinking that you could stay at the Sabertooth inn tonight and we can--”

She rolled her eyes and she was met with a look of feign offense.

“Now now. Get your mind out of the gutter,” Sting chided. “I was just gonna say that we can all spend some time together because Yukino wanted to talk to you. You have a dirty mind, Em.”

Emi looked at him unimpressed, but he just smirked back at her.

“What about Lector?”

“Rogue and Frosch wanted a sleepover,” he shrugged off.

“Whatever you say, Master Sting.”

Sting’s face flushed and he gave her a soft glare.

“D-Don’t call me that.”

It was Emi’s turn to smirk.

\-------

“Hey Emi, strange seeing you here.”

She greeted Orga and sat down next to Yukino.

“How come you’re not in Fairy Tail’s inn, Miss Emi.”

“I figured that I could see you guys tonight.”

They all talked for a while before everyone went up to bed. Emi kissed Lector goodnight before he followed Rogue and Frosch in their room. Sting jumped on the bed and sighed in content. 

“This feels so good.”

Emi giggled and jumped on too. They both eventually sat up and laughed at each other. Sting gently pulled Emi’s chin and kissed her softly. She closed her eyes and leaned closer, taking in the moment. They pulled apart after a little while because they were out of breath. Sting kissed her nose before trailing kisses down her chin and to her neck.

“Sting?”

He hummed into her neck as he continued to nip.

“I’m really glad I met you.”

She took in a sharp breath when he bit down a little harder.

“And I just wanted to make sure you knew how much I love you.”

She could feel Sting’s smile, and he pulled away to look at her in the eyes.

“I love you too.”

“I also wanted to ask something.”

“Hm?”

“If we survive this--”

“When we survive this,” he corrected.

“I just wanted to know your view on, um…”

“What is it?”

“Do you think we could maybe start trying?”

Sting held a warm smile, and he took her hands in his and gently squeezed them.

“I think we might be able to do that,” he softly spoke. 

“One more thing.”

“What?”

Emi looked at him shyly before she whispered in his ear. His smirk grew.

“Didn’t know you still liked to do that, Em.”


	135. Demonic Force Manipulation

Emi had disappeared for a few days, and everyone would have been worried if it wasn’t for Sting’s explanation. They all worked on their own spells and sparred with each other. Sting approached Laxus, and everyone looked on in anticipation and dread for whatever interaction they were about to have.

“Well?”

Light started whipping around Sting as lightning sparked around Laxus.

“Should we stop them?” Yukino asked worriedly.

Lucy spoke up as she turned to Levy, “Didn’t you say that a fight between them would be to the death?”

She nodded and reminded them about how dragons would fight on behalf of their mates and that it would be a vicious battle. 

“I wouldn’t worry,” Mavis soothed as she suddenly appeared by their sides. “Look closer.”

They all turned back to the pair and saw that they were smirking at each other. Sting lunged first and when Laxus dodged, a huge crater formed in the ground where Sting’s fists connected. Everyone sweatdropped and turned to Makarov.

“This might not be to the death, but should we still stop them?”

Thunderclouds began to form, and Laxus used his Breakdown Fist. Sparks began to fly everywhere, and another crater was formed. 

Makarov spoke, “Let them do this for now. It seems to not be malicious at all.”

“Holy Fire!”

Rays of light began to rain down on the field in the area surrounding Laxus. The lightning mage weaved through them and cast his Raging Bolt.

“Holy Fire? Since when can he use that?” Orga questioned.

“It must be a new spell that Miss Emi taught him,” Yukino reasoned. 

Laxus went to punch Sting, but he cast his Holy Nova, and everything was engulfed in white.

“You know, I’ve never actually seen him attack with that spell. He just kind of uses it as a blinding technique.”

Mavis chimed in, “That’s because the spell is very lethal and can cause a massive amount of damage, especially seeing as how much light he’s been able to gather the few times that I’ve seen it.”

Almost as if on cue, the light that Sting emitted began to shrink and concentrate into his fist. Everyone’s mouths hung open and they whipped their heads to Makarov. 

“Um, master? I think we should--”

Sting had landed his hit, and Laxus was forced back about a hundred feet. Rogue decided to try to stop the fight.

“Sting! That’s enough.”

The white dragon slayer looked over his shoulder, and everyone could see that his pupils were dilating rapidly. Mavis gasped. Everyone in Fairy Tail looked over to the First Master and asked what was wrong.

“I would suggest stopping the fight now.”

Laxus had picked himself up and rushed at him again. He raised his hands to the sky.

“Thunder Downpour!”

Just as Sting’s Holy Fire, lightning started to strike the field. Sting smirked and used his Holy Breath, cutting through the lightning. 

“Holy shit,” Lucy commented, “I didn’t know that could happen.”

They both stood eerily still, and everyone looked on to try to predict what would happen next. Makarov had started to step towards them to stop the fight before it escalated again, but Sting’s light whipped around them again, blocking anyone else from entering the area.

“Did he seriously ask him to spar and then use the opportunity to try to kill him?” Cana shouted.

They saw Sting’s teeth grow into faint fangs.

“Uh, we should really be trying to stop them, don’t you think?” Lucy shouted.

“It seems that he will go for the neck,” Mavis observed. “It’ll be very effective if he combines it with a holy spell.”

Suddenly, a flash of blue came rushing through the group and flew into the circle of light. Less than a second later, Sting was kicked in the side and went flying out of the circle. He was pinned by Emi’s knees on his arms. The light died down, and Laxus was able to walk out of the area. He brushed himself off and returned to the group. Everyone stared at him.

“What? Haven’t you ever seen two dragon slayers spar before?”

“That was _not_ sparring young man!” Makarov yelled. “He was about to kill you. You should know better than to pick a fight with someone that has a vendetta against you. Especially a mated dragon slayer.”

“What are you talking about? He was just testing his dragon techniques.”

“...What?”

“But a dragon slayer only shows its fangs when it’s ready to kill,” Mavis interrupted. 

“What? These?” Laxus asked as he caused his own fangs to form.

“Woah! How are you doing that?! You gotta teach me!” Natsu shouted.

“Besides, if he was really going for the kill, don’t you think that he would’ve activated his Dragon Force?”

Cana asked, “Then why did Emi come rushing in like that?”

“Because,” Emi answered as she glared at both Laxus and Sting, “I told them not to try it without me here just in case.”

Sting rubbed the back of his head and Laxus avoided eye contact with her. She huffed and turned away from both of them before apologizing to everyone for the scare.

“Emi, will you _please_ teach me that?”

“Natsu, it’s not really something that’ll be useful for you. You’re most of a barge in and think later type of person. That dragon technique is more of a hunting technique.”

“Aw man! I wanted fangs!”

Lucy punched Natsu and told him to start being serious. 

“So how was your training?” Sting asked as he swung his arm around Emi’s shoulders. 

“Good. I’ll be able to use a few techniques. Speaking of which, if you’re not too tired from participating in a fight I specifically told you not to start,” Emi sarcastically spoke, “then I would like to spar with you to work on your holy spells.”

He grinned and playfully said, “I think I have some energy left.” 

It was Emi’s turn to stand in a fighting position with Sting. Emi told him to cast one of his spells. 

“Crown of Brilliance!”

Light whipped around before gathering into a ring on top of Sting’s head. 

“What kind of spell is that, First Master?” Makarov asked.

“It’s an ancient holy spell that’s used against demons. It makes the caster immune to unholy attacks.”

“That’s so manly!” Elfman yelled.

Sabertooth asked Makarov to explain what Mavis had said, and he quickly did so.

“I have no memory of such a spell existing,” Rufus commented.

“Wait, but does that mean that Emi is gonna attack with...unholy attacks? What does that even mean?”

“Demonic Force Manipulation!”

Emi’s body erupted in flames.

“Since when can she do that?” Gray quizzed. 

The entirety of Emi’s eyes turned black, and the flames turned a bright blue. Sting looked a little shocked himself, but he quickly shook it off.

“Demonic Force Manipulation,” Mavis started, “is a forbidden spell that allows the caster to take on the appearance and abilities of a demon. I’m actually not surprised that she is able to so this type of spell given the fact that she is a demon slayer that was raised by a demon.”

Emi started growling and lunged at Sting. He shot out a couple rays of light at her, but she easily dodged them. She threw her hands in the air and formed a ball of blue fire in her hands before whipping it at Sting. He jumped out of the way, and a bunch of trees caught on fire. 

“Juvia,” Makarov addressed, “do you think you could extinguish the flames before the whole forest is set on fire? Who knows how long this battle will be.”

“Of course, master. Juvia will do it right away.”

She quickly cast a water spell at the fire, but they weren’t going out.

“No way,” Levy gasped. “She’s fighting with the flames of the Blue Demon?”

“Could this be the spell that she waited ten years to learn that we never got to see?” Natsu asked excitedly.

Another ball of fire went flying at Sting, and it grazed his pants and set them on fire. The fire grew, and Sting started to panic.

“Don’t hesitate, Sting.”

Sting came rushing at her while his clothes continued to catch fire. Emi sent a pulse of fire out and caught a ring of the field in the eternal flames. 

“Sword Summon: Warblade of the Blue Demon!”

Cain’s sword appeared in Emi’s hands, and she sliced at the air in front of her without unsheathing it. A huge wave of pressure whipped towards the field. Sting was knocked off his feet. The group was pushed back about twenty feet from the pressure. 

“How is she doing that? She spent three days alone and suddenly she’s a demon?!” Gray screamed.

“This is very peculiar indeed,” Erza spoke up, “but this will be a great power when facing the Sins.”

Emi gathered a ball of fire in her hands again and was able to hit Sting dead on. Everyone gasped when Sting started to burn in the flames. 

“Emi, that’s enough. You must extinguish the flames.”

The white haired woman slowly turned towards the voice and looked at them with a smirk on her face. Her teeth were bared and she continued to growl.

“Uh, First Master?”

“She might have lost some humanity along the way using this technique.”

“Meaning?” Mira pressed.

Emi started laughing maniacally and formed a ring of fire around Sting.

“Meaning that she might have fully converted to a demon at this point.”

“Come on, dragon slayer,” Emi taunted. “I know you can do better than dodging.”

Sting looked at the flames and gulped before taking a deep breath and walking through them. Everyone looked on confused when they saw that he wasn’t being injured from the flames. They just seemed to burn on him, but he took no damage. 

“That would be the Crown of Brilliance,” Mavis explained. “The fire is a demonic attack, meaning that it would be nullified by Sting’s spell. He won’t be hurt by them.”

“How isn’t he getting hurt?” Orga questioned, oblivious to Mavis’s explanation because he couldn’t see her.

Levy quickly repeated what Mavis had said. 

“You better hurry, Sting. I can’t really keep this up for too much longer.”

Sting shot light at her and used his Holy Nova to blind her. When the light died down, everyone saw that Sting had his hand on Emi’s forehead.

“Angelic Exorcism.”

A ball of light formed on his hand and shot into Emi. The flames extinguished immediately, and Emi’s eyes turned back to normal. All of the fire that burned around them during the battle disappeared as well. 

“First Master?”

“A holy technique used to purge unholy entities.”

“I’ve read something about that spell,” Rufus stated as he recognized the spell without the information from Maivs. “It can also be used with objects. It’s exponentially more difficult to use it successfully on a living being, so I wonder how much practice he has.”

Emi smiled at Sting and gave him a high five before turning back to the group.

“Why don’t we all go relax for a bit? I’m beat. And also overheating. God.”


	136. Efreet

“Again!”

Gray groaned and summoned his ice again.

“You’re not doing it right.”

“How the hell do you want me to do it then?”

“You have to channel the water around you, particularly the water on your enemy. It’s an ice spell, but you need water for it to work.”

“What’s wrong, ice stripper? Can’t do a spell?”

“You’re one to talk!”

“Actually I can do two new spells.”

Gray glared at the fire wizard and turned back to Emi.

“Let me try again.”

“Remember, using the sweat from your opponent can help form the chains. Don’t let that opportunity pass. As soon as you see them start to sweat, cast your spell.”

Gray and Emi took their stances again, and the ice wizard tried to cast the spell. He screamed when it didn’t work. 

“It’s no use! You’re not even sweating!”

“Alright. Let’s take a break for now. Natsu, are you ready?”

“Hell yeah! I wanna use my newer spell.”

Natsu grinned as he and Emi stared each other down. 

“Tidal Wave!”

Natsu jumped out of the way and put his hands on the ground.

“Smoke Zone!”

Dust and ash began to spin around him before it shot out in different directions, causing a thick fog of hot smoke.

“Hey, watch it pyro! You’re burning me.”

“Well then back up,” Natsu sassed. 

The smoke continued to thicken, and eventually nobody could see what was going on. Gray started coughing and kneeled on the ground. Emi made her way through the smoke and used her Dispel, causing the smoke to shoot upwards and disappear.

“That was great!”

“Why,” Gray choked out as he coughed, “why weren’t you affected? I could hardly breathe.”

“It doesn’t affect fire and poison mages.”

Natsu started to laugh maniacally when he saw Gray struggling. 

“I beat you this time, Popsicle.”

“We weren’t even fighting! You wanna go, fire freak?”

“I’d love to see your try, ice queen.”

“Fine. But you’re gonna--”

“ **Enough.** ”

Gray and Natsu paled under Emi’s stare and stood up straight, facing away from each other. 

“Damn Em,” Sting laughed when he appeared, “I haven’t seen that look in a while.”

“I think she gives Erza a competition,” Lucy commented.

Emi rolled her eyes and placed her hands on her hips.

“Would you like to be next?”

Lucy was the next one to pale as she waved her hands in front of her face. 

“Of course not! I’m perfectly fine!”

Sting cracked his knuckles and stepped further into the field. He silently challenged Emi, and they both got into a fighting stance.

“No way,” Makarov interrupted. “You two are not fighting again. You almost set the whole forest on fire last time.”

“Aw come on, Makarov. Just this time. From one guildmaster to another?”

“That is precisely why you mustn’t fight so carelessly. You’re supposed to be setting an example for the others.”

Sting pointed over to Sabertooth to see that they were all fighting one another.

“I think they’ll be just fine. They’re training.”

“Emi is not fighting anyone today,” Makarov shouted sternly. “Find someone else!”

Sting sighed and stood up normally before giving a mischievous smile over to the crowd. He stared the crowd down with his arms crossed. Laxus seemed to get the atmosphere, and he stepped into the field with Sting.

“Absolutely no--”

Sting and Laxus immediately rushed each other before Makarov could stop them. The white dragon slayer shot out a couple bursts of light in Laxus’s direction, and he countered by striking Sting’s hands with lightning. 

“Crap.”

Sting cast his Holy Breath, and Laxus had to quickly dodge before it hit him. A group of trees far away were knocked down by the force of the attack.

“Let’s see what you got, Sparky.”

“What did you just call me, Sunshine?”

Sting chuckled and waved him on. Laxus sprinted towards Sting and smirked before casting his Lightning Dragon’s Jaw, smashing Sting to the ground and forming a massive crater spanning about fifty feet in all directions. Makarov’s mouth dropped open before he started shouting at his grandson. 

“It’s okay, Master Makarov. They’re just training.”

“You are letting them fight too seriously. Don’t you know how dangerous it is to have them fight? One wrong move and Sting’s dragon instincts could kick in and fight as a mated--”

“And I’ll be here to stop it. Besides,” Emi said as she smiled brightly at Levy, “they’ve moved past it.”

“I will not have them destroying this town,” Makarov declared. “Stop them now.”

Sting had cast his Holy Nova, using it as an attack spell, and Laxus was hit by the concentrated light and flew back. 

“Destroy the town…”

Emi smiled and looked at Makarov before giggling and teleporting everyone to the rubble town where she fought one of the Sins. 

“Alright you two, you can battle to your heart’s content as long as you don’t try to harm each other too much.”

The Fairy Tail master grumbled under his breath and dropped down to the ground with his arms crossed. Sting smirked and cast a new spell.

“Searing Light!”

The once dark town immediately lit up to the point of blinding the group watching on. Rays of light started shooting out from the sky, and Laxus was starting to get burned by the concentrated rays. He hissed as the light started to eat through his skin. He cast his Raging Bolt, and the storm clouds that covered the area seemed to dispel the light. The lightning dragon slayer was breathing heavily from the amount of magic energy he had used from the spells he cast. He raised his eyebrow at Sting and watched him stand proudly away from him. Laxus scoffed before stretching.

“Tired?”

“Just getting started.”

“Sting!”

He looked towards the group and went to question them when he looked down and saw a magic circle under his feet. He slowly looked up to see two more above his head. 

“Crap.”

He tried to move away from the magic circles, but four more appeared in each side direction, trapping him inside. Sting groaned and sat down in the middle of the circles. 

“This is gonna hurt really bad, isn’t it?” Sting sarcastically asked. 

“I guess you’ll find out.”

Sting laid on his back and closed his eyes as he waited for the shocks that were about to come. He opened one eye and smirked before sending a twisting tornado of light at Laxus. 

“Well they certainly know what to do when fighting each other,” Erza observed. 

Both spells went off, Sting being severely shocked and Laxus being burned and suffocated. Once both spells died down, they were both on the ground. Emi sighed and walked towards them when she saw Sting twitch. He jumped up and put his fist in the air.

“Ha! I did it!”

The group all looked on with shocked faces.

Lucy spoke up, “How can he still stand?”

“Em, did you see that? I totally kicked his…”

Sting had fallen backwards and everyone sweatdropped. Emi shook her head and made her way over to the two dragon slayers. She healed them and then flicked both their foreheads.

“What in god’s name were you two trying to do? I said not to seriously hurt each other.”

Sting just gave a childish grin and Laxus looked away from her.

\---------------------------------------------------------------

“My turn! Me next!”

Mira reasoned, “Natsu, I think we all need a break from--”

“No way! I wanna fight Emi before we leave.”

“Why?” Makarov asked. “What could you possibly want to do?”

“Fight her to get stronger, duh.”

“Yeah,” Lucy snickered, “or destroy half the city.”

“Let’s make this quick, Natsu. I want to go get ice cream.”

Natsu grinned and engulfed his hands in fire before charging at her. She grabbed his forearms and flung him back against a building. 

“You know, when she said make it quick,” Rogue muttered, “I didn’t think she meant not holding back.”

“What’re you talking about? She’s holding back a lot right now.”

Rogue turned to Sting and went to say something when Natsu jumped off the side of the building and used his Smoke Zone spell. Gray had quickly warned everyone to not breathe it in, and Juvia cast a water barrier around them.

“Hey idiot, will you stop using that when we’re around? You’re gonna hurt us too.”

Natsu looked back to say something back when he was hit in the stomach by Emi’s fist. He wiped the dust off his coat and placed his hands on the ground. Fire demons started rising from the ground and surrounded Natsu. He looked at them all before rushing Emi, the fire demons following him. 

“Woah what the hell is that?”

“Efreets,” Mavis spoke up. “An ancient demonic spell that incorporates a caster’s fire elemental magic and summoning magic. He’s able to let his fire take shape, and with practice he is able to control the things that appear.”

Emi scanned the area and cast her Wind Blade to send the demons back, but they kept rushing her. Natsu was able to reach her before them, and he cast his Iron Fist. It connected with her stomach and she stumbled back a few feet before the Efreets got to her. She started to engage in hand to hand with them, and her skin was slowly burning. She eventually jumped out of the circle of demons that had formed and flipped over so she was behind Natsu. She placed her hand on his back and shot a ray of light into him, making the Efreets evaporate. Natsu screamed in frustration. 

“I almost had you!”

Emi agreed before joking, “I’d love to see Sloth try to find his way out of that one.”

“I have one more request.”

Everyone looked at Natsu and waited for his request. Makarov immediately went to scold him when he heard it.

“I wanna see if I can eat your demon fire.”

“Natsu! Are you crazy?” Lucy shouted. “Don’t you remember that that’s the Blue Demon’s fire? You know, the fire that can burn anything and won’t stop?”

“Exactly why I wanna eat it.”

Emi slowly nodded before telling Wendy to stay on stand-by just in case. She whispered something to herself before her whole body erupted in blue flames. She stepped closer to Natsu and held out a ball of blue fire. He took a deep breath and started to swallow it. Everyone looked on in anticipation. He swallowed the fire and made a weird face. 

“That tastes weird.”

The group breathed out in relief. 

“Let me try it again.”

They all sweatdropped again. 

“Natsu, you can’t just keep eating it!” Gray yelled.

Emi rolled her eyes and held out her hand again.

“You know what, it tastes really good now that I know what to expect from it.”

She called off the Demonic Force Manipulation and yawned. 

“Can we go get ice cream now?”

Natsu nodded and pulled her back over to the group. They all looked at her expectantly, but she just tilted her head.

“What? I thought we were going for ice cream. Sting’s paying.”

“Hey!”

Everyone laughed when Sting started to grumble under his breath. Emi ignored it and jumped on his back and wrapped her legs around his torso. His hand immediately steadied her and they all started to follow Sting over to the ice cream stand. 

“Today was fun,” Emi giggled. 

“Maybe you’ll actually let me try my physical dragon techniques next time.”

“Not against Laxus,” she chided. “You can do it against anyone else. Try Rogue.”

He laughed and turned his head to the side so he could kiss her cheek.


	137. Prelude (The Encore)

“I think it’s time to learn some healing spells.”

At Emi’s words, Wendy immediately stepped closer. She stood stiffly and locked eyes with the white haired woman. 

“Actually, I have some spells that don’t require a person who already possesses healing magic. I have another offensive spell for you that I can teach you later. Right now, I need Sting and Rogue.”

“I get the holy magic type for healing, but a shadow type healing spell?” Levy questioned. “I’ve never heard of one.”

“It’s called Dark Shepherd.”

“I’ve actually heard of that spell before,” Rufus explained. “It takes the health of whoever the spell is aimed at and converts it into healing for the caster’s allies.”

Emi smiled brightly and nodded in agreement. She took the twin dragon slayers and headed off into the forest. The rest of the group stood confused in the inn and looked at each other curiously. 

“Should we...train? Like what do we do?”

Makarov stepped up and cleared his throat.

“Alright everyone, I want you to go off on your own and practice. You can go in pairs if you want, but do not destroy anything. Got it?”

Sabertooth’s members laughed when they saw Makarov glaring at his guild members. 

\-------

After about an hour, Rogue had a handle on the spell. He used it a few times, taking the health of Sting and channeling it towards Emi, who had purposely injured her side. Sting was next, and the spell was explained to him simply.

“It’s called Grand Redemption. You would need holy water, which shouldn’t be a problem when there are water mages around.”

“How do I make it holy water though?”

“You just bless it. Basically casting an enchantment over it.”

Sting nodded, so Emi continued with her explanation. 

“Now this isn’t some regular healing spell. It takes about as much magic energy as when Wendy would have to heal for over two hours. It is extremely tasking to the body, but if you’re able to do it then everyone within the circle that you draw will be healed.”

Sting practiced the spell, and after a while he collapsed on the ground. His heavy breaths could be heard from across the field where Rogue sat. Emi crouched down beside Sting, smiling and giving him a thumbs up.

“Not bad, Eucliffe. Not bad.”

He smiled wide, but groaned when he tried to move. 

\-------

“Why’d you have Rogue leave? I thought we were training.”

“The healing spells were already practiced, so I figured that he would be able to rest and join the others.”

“And me?”

Emi leaned up to meet for a soft kiss before she pulled away. Sting grinned and went to repeat her actions, but Emi stepped away from him.

“I figured you would want to learn a new spell.”

“Oh hell yes.”

“I’m not gonna lie or put it lightly. This is a fatal spell, but it’s also almost always fatal to whoever uses it.”

“Huh?”

“Anyone that came in contact with this spell has not survived. Target or caster.”

“Uh...should we really be doing that? It’s no good if we try the other spell and it fails.”

Emi looked off to the side and sighed before reluctantly nodding and going to walk back to the inn. Sting caught her hand, taking in a deep breath.

“Let’s do this.”

“You won’t actually be casting the spell until in battle due to the fatal nature, but I can explain it and walk through the steps.”

\-------

“Rogue, are you sure they’re coming back? It’s been an awfully long time.”

“They said they would return once they were done practicing.”

As if on cue, the doors to the Fairy Tail inn opened slowly. Sting groaned and flopped down on one of the benches while Emi stretched over by the stairs. 

“What happened to you two?” Cana questioned. 

“She beat my ass is what happened. I’m beyond exhausted.”

“Laxus,” Emi whined, “I’m tired.”

“So? What do you want me to do about it?”

She lazily stepped over to him, wrapping her arms around his waist and leaning into him.

“Carry me.”

Laxus scoffed and refused, trying to pry her arms away from him. He found it was no use. Everyone raised their eyebrows when they heard her soft breathing.

“Wake up, brat. I’m not carrying you.”

She remained silent, snuggling into his side. The lightning mage grumbled under his breath before scooping her up and turning towards the stairs. 

“Honestly, you’re a pain in the ass.”

Everyone sweatdropped when they saw Emi quietly cheer at her success in getting him to carry her. 

“Was she seriously awake the whole time?” Mira asked through her giggles. 

Emi “woke up” once she was placed on her bed. She patted the spot next to her and Laxus reluctantly joined her, muttering how annoying she was. The white haired woman scooted over to him, wiggling her way under his arm and laughing when he huffed. Suddenly, Emi stopped moving completely. Laxus felt her stiffen under his arm and he looked at her concerned.

“Hey Laxus?”

“What now?”

“I think...they’re coming.”

“Those Sin freaks? Already?”

They heard a bang, and they both immediately leaped out of bed and rushed down the stairs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Sorry for the short chapter. My internet hasn't been cooperating with me. The next one will be longer. Thanks!


	138. Start

Emi and Laxus were downstairs in a second. Everyone was looking around, trying to figure out what was happening. Another large bang was heard, and Emi sprinted out the door.

“Em!”

She screamed back without stopping, “It’s them!”

Sting took in her words and gasped before running after her. Lector darted after him, leaving the rest of the group to look at each other in shock. Natsu was the next one to step forward, catching his fist in his other hand. He turned around to face everyone and urged them to follow, stating that it was their time to put their training to good use. He ran after Sting and Emi, Happy mirroring Lector’s actions and flying at top speed to catch up to the fire mage. Makarov stepped forward, addressing the remaining wizards.

“We must fight with all our hearts. But please be safe.”

They all nodded and followed Emi’s trail. They had made it into the park, stopping when they spotted Emi staring straight at a red-eyed man with white hair standing next to a slightly shorter man with pink hair and yellow eyes. 

“Is that…?”

“My my. I can’t actually believe you made more friends. Daughter of Cain, I’m very impressed.”

“It helps when you don’t have any memories to tell you to not make friends,” Emi bit back before sassing him back. “So thanks for that. Really appreciate it.” 

Sting stood right by her side, glaring at the two. 

Sloth spoke up again, clapping his hands in excitement, “Oh look! Leader, do you see that? It’s her mate!”

Wrath laughed maniacally, his eyes locking with the blond dragon slayer.

“Who would’ve thought we’d be able to play with you again? I can’t wait.”

His tone made the rest of the group shiver in fear, but Sting and Emi kept their hard stares. 

“You sure have a lot of friends,” Sloth observed. “Did you learn to travel in numbers this time? Oh well, it’s not like it actually matters anyway. Whether it’s ten deaths or a hundred, fun is still fun!”

A whip of light formed in Emi’s right hand, and Sloth looked on in amusement. His eyes twinkled mischievously, snapping his fingers and sending his daggers at her. Emi swung the whip around, wrapping it around half the daggers. She jumped out of the way of the rest of them, one just barely missing her left ankle. 

“Now now,” Sloth scolded, “hasn’t anyone ever told you to not attack someone who isn’t ready? That’s quite rude.”

Emi’s whip disappeared as she snapped her fingers. Boulders began to form from the pebbles that were laying in the park. They caught fire and rushed towards Sloth.

“Asteroid!”

Wrath stretched his arms before stepping in front of Sloth, snapping his fingers. The boulders disappeared immediately. He smirked devilishly before snapping his fingers again, the fiery boulders reappearing behind her. She used her Dispel, her eyes never leaving Wrath’s. He chuckled lowly.

“Now I was told that you would be out of practice, daughter of Cain,” Wrath drawled. “It seems my friend here was mistaken.”

Wrath sent a threatening stare at Sloth, who cowered slightly at his words. 

“This should be fun.”

Sloth stood up straight again, his composure regained. He crossed his arms as he looked towards the group. Emi caught his eyes and he smirked. Daggers appeared by Sting’s back and came rushing towards him. Sting jumped out of the way, but not before one dagger was able to nick his arm. He hissed and shook it off before glaring at the pink haired Sin. 

“Em.”

“Right.”

They took their fighting stances, and spells formed in their hands.

“Ad Deum!”

“Holy Nova!”

Blinding light surrounded the park, engulfing everyone present. At the same time, Emi cast a teleportation spell to bring them out of the crowded city and relocate them in the rubble city that everyone had become familiar with. Wrath was the first Sin to regain his sight, and he called his flames, sending a stream of black fire in Sting’s direction and hitting him dead on. The flames died down, revealing Sting with a smug smile on his face. Wrath looked at him in shock before he noticed the ring of light over Sting’s head, signalling that he had cast the Crown of Brilliance. Sloth had recovered his sight once the light died down and looked on at the battle.

“The Crown of Brilliance?” Sloth questioned, stunned. “Now where would a human learn that kind of spell?”

“I’m all fired up now!” Natsu shouted as he let flames engulf his fists. 

Natsu rushed towards Wrath and used his Roar. Wrath scoffed and snapped his fingers twice, once to cancel the spell and the other to re-summon it behind the fire wizard. 

“Natsu!”

Said mage shook off the flames, unable to eat his own fire. He picked himself up and crossed his arms. 

“That’s not playing fair. You should know I can’t eat my own fire.”

Makarov pinched his nose before yelling at him and telling him that it was no time to be messing around. Flames surrounded Natsu again, and he spun his arms in a circular motion. The Efreet spell was activated, and fire monsters appeared around him. He nodded to Emi and rushed at Sloth. The Sin’s eyes widened, shocked at the speed that Natsu approached him with. Gray sighed and stepped forward, motioning towards Juvia to summon a puddle of water by Sloth. She quickly did so, and Gray took in a deep breath before trying to cast the spell that he was having a hard time with.

“Ice Make: Compressing Chains!”

The water formed into links before freezing over. The chain wrapped around Sloth’s legs before they tightened. Sloth looked down and cursed, wriggling in its hold. With every move Sloth made, the chains became tighter. He sent his daggers towards his feet and sliced the ice away, but not before the fire creatures surrounded him and started to attack him. He hissed as his skin began to burn. He growled before a dome of green surrounded Natsu. Emi’s eyes widened in horror as she recognized the dome as the same one that killed Yuuki. 

“Natsu!”

The dome started to shrink, and Natsu started punching it. Emi quickly jumped on top of the dome, using her Dispel. Much like last time, however, the prison was immediately summoned again. She glared at Sloth, looking over to see his eyes light up in enjoyment. 

“You should know the outcome of this one, daughter of Cain. It’s no use to--”

Emi cast her Dispel again using her right hand. Her left hand was used to form the Shell of Divinity around Natsu. 

“Wha--how did you cast two spells at once?” Sloth asked in shock. 

“Call it a self Unison Raid,” Emi cockily replied. “I learned a trick or two since we last saw each other.”

“Are you two done with your reunion?” Wrath snapped. “We have a job to do, Sloth.”

“Of course, Leader. I was just testing them out.”

Juvia stepped forward and stood by Emi’s side. All of Fairy Tail and Sabertooth looked at her in confusion, wondering what she was doing. As far as they could remember, she wasn’t taught any new spells, and she usually wasn’t the person to be the first to step into an unknown situation. However, her eyes held only determination. 

“Juvia is ready, Miss Emi.”

Emi smiled at her and grabbed her hand. Their hands started to glow.

“Unison Raid?” Lucy questioned.

“Now that I think about it,” Mira responded, “they were paired together when we all tried to do Unison Raids. I didn’t think any of us were able to accomplish anything though.”

“Shell of Divinity!”

“Water Dome!”

“Unison Raid: Divine Dome of Suffocation!”

The spell hit Sloth head on and he started holding what little air he had. Everyone looked on, amazed that they were able to pull off the spell. This seemed to spark some morale into the group because they all started to step forward. The spell died down, and Sloth dropped to the ground as he coughed and choked for air. Orga and Laxus stepped forward. Laxus grunted, sending a huge bolt of lightning at Wrath. It was quickly cancelled and deflected back towards him, but Orga swallowed it. He used his newfound strength to aim his black lightning at Sloth.

“You used me to power yourself up?” Wrath questioned. “You sure are an interesting group.”

“Open: Gate of the Archer!”

At Lucy’s command, Sagitarius appeared and aimed his arrows at Wrath. Sloth picked himself up once he was finally able to stand up and aimed his daggers at the attack, his daggers slicing through the spirit’s arrows with ease. 

“Shit.”

Sloth joined Wrath’s side once again, still coughing quietly. Wrath summoned a ring of fire and sent it towards Emi. Rogue’s shadow went unnoticed by the Sin. That is, until it grabbed him by his ankle and swung him back. The shadow dragon slayer smiled victoriously, happy with his contribution. Sting gave him a thumbs up while smiling like an idiot. 

“That was totally cool, Rogue.”

The black flames still shot out at Emi, but blue flames blocked them from reaching her. Wrath scoffed, his face turning into one of annoyance. 

“I see that traitor is still protecting you. Honestly, what a pain. You would think his games would end when we killed him, but no, he had to go and give you his stupid fire protection.”

“I don’t really see the problem with it,” Emi sassed. “It’s working just fine for me.”

“Don’t get cocky, little girl. Remember who you stand before.”

Sting stood protectively in front of Emi, which earned a small huff from the white haired woman. 

“Don’t threaten my mate again. Sin or not, you’re mine.”

Wrath laughed maniacally, taunting the dragon slayer over. Sting went to approach him when Emi quickly grabbed his wrist.

“Sting.”

“Leave him to me.”

“No, you can’t fight him alone. That’s the whole point of working with everyone.”

“What’s wrong, boy? Did you realize you have no chance? Crown of Brilliance or not, a human can’t defeat a demon from the Sins.”

“Are you sure about that?” Sting sarcastically asked. “I think Emi took care of five of you.”

“She’s far from human.”

Emi looked down to the ground in shame, his comment cutting deep.

“She’s nothing but human. Trained by a demon or not, she is and always will be human. I made a promise to her to make sure she always knows that, so I don’t need you trying to get in her head saying anything different.”

She looked up towards Sting’s back with her mouth slightly open, his words echoing in her ears. Sting looked over his shoulder and locked eyes with her before giving a lopsided grin.

“A promise is a promise, right?”


	139. Wrath

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Sorry for the delay.

Wrath saw something move from the corner of his eye, and he jumped away from Rogue’s shadow right before it wrapped around his ankle again.

“You didn’t think that I would actually fall for that again, did you?”

Wrath went to rush towards Sting and Emi when he was pulled back. His head whipped around to see Gajeel holding him by the back of his shirt. Gajeel gave his signature laugh before he slammed the Sin to the ground. Erza requipped to her Heaven’s Wheel armor and shot swords out towards both Sins. Sloth cut through them with his daggers, and Wrath snapped his fingers just in time as he struggled to free himself from the rubble of the crater that had been created from his impact. The sword disappeared and came back at Erza from behind. Wendy jumped into action, casting her Sky Dragon Wing Attack and blowing all the swords off to the side. Natsu begged to be let out of the Shell of Divinity, and after a couple minutes of his loud protests, Emi sighed and released her spell. He dropped to the ground and punched the air before slamming his hands on the ground. 

“Smoke Zone!”

Smoke and fire erupted from the ground and caused a burning haze. Sting, Gray and Juvia retreated back to the group, Juvia casting a water barrier around Fairy Tail and Sabertooth to protect them from Natsu’s spell. Sloth dropped to the ground again, gasping for clean air as the fiery smoke invaded his senses. Wrath stood unaffected, his fire forming around him. His black flames whipped around him, and he had an evil look. Emi cast her Turbinis spell, a wind tornado whipping around, gathering the smoke from the area and sending it upwards so everyone could see again. She then cast her Wind Tomb, creating another tornado and sending it towards Sloth. He once again dropped down to the ground, grabbing his neck as he struggled to breathe. Wrath smirked as he watched on.

“What’s got you so goddamn happy?” Gajeel grunted. “Your companion there is getting beat to shit and you’re smiling?”

“He’s a wonderful tactician, but he’s completely useless other than that.”

“Leader, how could you say something like that? I’ve done plenty of things to--”

“Shut up.”

“I’m far from useless. I’ve taken down nations. More than the Four Beast Elements combined!”

“I said **shut up**.”

Sloth stopped talking and looked to the side before growling and sending a dome towards Sting. Emi’s stare hardened, and she cast her dual spell again, encasing Sting in a holy barrier. Sloth scoffed and went to aim a spell at Emi when he was lifted off the ground. He turned to see Laxus standing over him, his fist tugging the Sin’s collar up harshly. 

“You know, you should really think before you aim a spell like that at her. I don’t think she’s too fond of it, and I don’t wanna hear her complain about it for hours on end, so I’m gonna stop you there.”

Sloth, like Wrath, was roughly thrown to the ground. Laxus then turned to Wrath.

“What are you staring at, human? Struggle all you want, but you’ll never win.”

Wrath faltered a bit when he saw that Laxus looked at him with a bored expression. 

“Why don’t you cower like the others?” Wrath breathed, thoroughly confused. 

“Sorry. I don’t cower. And also, I lived with this brat for years. You have no idea what goes into that. You don’t frighten me.”

“Hey! I’m not that bad,” Emi protested. 

Wrath cast his Scatter spell, sending bursts of black fire everywhere, focusing it on the group of wizards that stood back from the rest. Wendy took in a deep breath before standing in front of the group. 

“Wendy?” Levy questioned. “What are you--”

“Gale Vortex!”

A barrier of wind whipped around the area where they were standing, and the flames danced around in the wind before shooting off in different directions and away from them. Lucy summoned Virgo, and she instructed her to dig a tunnel so that they could discreetly get behind the Sins. Virgo did so, and a couple of them snuck into the tunnel. Wrath lunged at Laxus who continued to look at him blankly. Wrath looked pissed. Emi released Sting, who stood next to Laxus. They looked at each other and nodded before lightning and light started to dart around them. Emi saw their fangs start to appear, so she backed off. Sting was the first one to jump at the Sin. Wrath caught him by his arm and flung him back. Before he got too far away, Sting cast his Holy Breath and aimed it at the back of Wrath’s head. Because the Sin was focused on his anger towards Laxus, he didn’t see the attack to cancel it, so it hit him full force.

“I will not be defeated by lowly humans. You’re all dead, you hear me?!”

Erza had appeared from the tunnel, sneaking behind the Sin and requipping her Nakagami Armor. She used the Nakagami Starlight, slicing through the space and sending Wrath flying a distance. The Sin picked himself up, his eyes dilating rapidly as he bared his teeth. Sloth joined Wrath, spitting out some blood that had pooled in his mouth. 

“Leader, who do you want me to take out first?”

“Deal with the daughter of Cain,” he ordered before growling and pointing towards Laxus, “I’ll deal with this one.”


	140. Smite

“Wow Laxus, you’re popular.”

The lightning wizard rolled his eyes at Natsu’s carefree remark and studied the Sin. He stood there, looking close to the point of foaming at the mouth. Laxus raised his eyebrow at the Sin, standing patiently for the next move. Wrath lunged at him, his nails growing into claws. He sliced at the mage. Laxus cursed when he felt blood dripping down his arm. He went to cast his Roar, but it wouldn’t work. He looked around confused before trying his Lightning Dragon Breakdown Fist, but that wouldn’t work either. 

“What the hell?”

“I use dispel and deflection magic. What did you expect? My claws drip with poison that saps the magic abilities of whoever is pierced by them. Now be a good little human and die. No matter what you do, demons will always be stronger than humans.”

Laxus groaned, complaining about how superior demons thought they were. He cracked his knuckles, his mouth twitching up.

“My plan was to fight you with my fists anyway.”

Sloth looked at Emi from a distance. Sting had made his way back over to her and stood behind her with his hands on her shoulders. They looked at the Sin in silence, the three of them studying each other. Sloth smirked and started cackling.

“Do you humans really think you can beat us? How pathetic.”

“We seem to be doing a pretty good job on you, don’t ya think?”

“You haven’t even seen the beginning.”

“Fire Dragon Iron Fist!”

Natsu moved so fast that all anyone could see was a flash of red as his fist made contact with Sloth’s face. Sting smiled wide and excitedly cheered as he watched his idol attack the Sin. Emi rolled her eyes and smacked his arm to make him focus again. Natsu stepped back from Sloth and stood on the other side of Emi. Sloth growled and stood up again.

“You’re all asking for it. Even if you defeat me, you’ll stand no chance against our leader.”

“I think I’ll take that chance,” Natsu stated, “because I also made a promise. A promise to protect my friend from her sadness. A promise of happiness and friendship. And I never go back on my promises. So you can throw whatever you want at us, but I’m not letting you hurt the people I care about. You’re both getting annihilated today.”

“Natsu…”

The dragon slayer turned to Emi with a wide grin. Tears started to form in her eyes, but she was quickly forced back into seriousness when she heard Laxus. She quickly turned to see him bleeding as he fought Wrath fist to fist. A small gasp left her lips when she saw the claw marks on his arm. 

“I have to go. You two hold him off until I get back.”

Emi rushed over to Laxus and Wrath, activating her Demonic Force Manipulation and calling the blue flames to shoot out from her palms. They hit Wrath just as he was about to land a fire attack of his own on Laxus. A streak of blue could be seen from the rest of the group as they stood back. 

“She’s activated it then,” Mavis started. “I guess the fight has only begun.”

“What do you mean, First Master?” Makarov inquired.

“It seems they were all testing each other out. Now they are fighting seriously.”

Emi landed next to Laxus and grabbed his arm. She steadied him, encasing his arm with water.

“Sanatio Aqua.”

The claw marks faded, and a purple liquid leaked from the wounds as they disappeared.

“You should be able to use magic again.”

“Thanks, Em. Now why don’t you get back over to Sloth.”

“I’m not leaving you here with him alone. Sting has Natsu. I’m assuming the others will be joining soon.”

They heard a snarl and looked to see Wrath stalking towards them. Emi pushed Laxus out of the way just in time to protect him from a shot of black fire. Emi’s blue flames burned around her, and she shot them out at the Sin. She was able to burn his arms to the point where he needed to back up.

“I told you. Blue flames are the hottest.”

“Yeah yeah. Don’t get too full of yourself,” Laxus spoke. “He looks like he’s gonna snap.”

“I have a question, Wrath. How did your arm grow back? I remember slicing it off.”

“You’re not the only one who knows healing magic. I was easily able to have someone fix what you had done. Now, I’m done playing around with you lowly humans.”

He caught sight of Lucy and Wendy crawling out of the tunnel and smirked. 

“That girl over there. She’s a celestial wizard, no?”

Emi narrowed her eyes and gave her response, “And what of it? Since when are you interested in human magic?”

“Just so I can do this…”

They watched him closely as a whip made out of fire shot over to the tunnel and grabbed Lucy’s keys. She gasped and tried to grab them back, but the fire burned a wall between them. The keys landed in Wrath’s hands, and he scanned them.

“Gold keys? This should be interesting. Corruption of Stars!”

The keys turned from gold to black. Emi’s eyes widened in realization, shouting to Lucy to stay back. Loke emerged and immediately lunged at Emi. 

“Dammit!”

She dodged and grabbed his arm, twisting it behind his back.

“Come on, Loke. You can do it. Snap out of it.”

He struggled in her grasp before he sent a fist of light at her for his Regulus Impact. She continued to hold onto him desperately as she tried to release the spell that Wrath had cast. 

“Loke, remember Lucy. Remember Fairy Tail and all the memories you have with them. Don’t let them go. Please.”

Wrath howled with laughter as he watched the struggle. Emi had no choice but to kick Loke in the stomach and throw him into the wall of fire. 

“Wow, daughter of Cain, I’m impressed that you’re still able to be so heartless.” 

“It’s the only way to stop it. They others won’t come out on their own, and you don’t have the contracts to summon them, so the rest are safe.”

Wrath tsked and threw the keys on the ground, muttering, “To think that only one spirit would have the ability to come out without a summoning. Pathetic.”

Emi was hit in the side by Sting being flung at her. They collapsed to the ground and groaned as they freed themselves from each other. 

“This Sloth guy is really stepping up his game. Natsu and I can’t land a hit on him anymore.”

“They’re fighting seriously now. Just be careful.”

“Hey, give me some credit. I promised that I wouldn’t die until I did that spell and I mean it.”

“Are you two done bickering with each other?” Wrath sarcastically asked. “I would like to continue killing you now.”

Emi jumped up and cast her Divinity Surge spell, sending a ray of holy energy in Wrath’s direction. The spell ate away at his arm, leaving a big hlole by his shoulder. Natsu came flying at the group, his legs covered in sludge. Emi watched as the liquid-like substances surrounded his legs and glowed red. 

“Natsu, are you oka--”

“I just keep getting more and more tired! I don’t get it. I had some sleep and I ate enough.”

“Stay still. This might hurt.”

Before she could do anything, more fire was sent towards her. She pushed Natsu away and leaped back, landing on her hands. She looked around quickly, spotting Rogue a short distance away, and cast her shadow to wrap around Wrath’s leg again. Rogue caught on and cast his shadow to grab onto Sloth’s leg. Both Sins cursed, and a second later they were both slammed against each other before being tossed off to the side. Emi gave Rogue a thumbs up and waved him over. He shot through the ground, appearing behind her from his shadow. 

“Do you think you could cast your healing spell for these three? Aim it at Sloth.”

Rogue nodded, casting his Dark Shepherd spell. Sloth moaned in discomfort as he started to feel weaker. The sludge from Natsu’s leg was gone, as well as the cuts that Sting and Laxus had acquired. Laxus stood up and made eye contact with Wrath.

“You all are really annoying, you know that?”

He looked over to Sting and raised his eyebrow. Sting caught on and grinned, joining Laxus and putting his fist in the air. 

“Ready to die?” Laxus tested. 

“Only if you die first,” Sting playfully shot back. 

Sting started mumbling a string of enchantments while Laxus prepared his lightning. He used his new spell, Electric Eel, sending a shockwave of lightning into Sloth’s body and letting it fry his insides. He collapsed back to the ground as he was being electrocuted, giving Sting the chance to run up to him and place his fingers on Sloth’s forehead. He grinned wide and gave Sloth a wave goodbye before finishing the incantation.

“Smite.”


	141. Rage of Failures

Sting’s head leaned back so he was looking up to the sky, panting heavily. He looked back down to see Sloth laying motionless, and he breathed out in relief. The dragon slayer smiled at Emi and gave a thumbs up, hopping back over to her side.

“See? We can totally work as a team.”

Emi shook her head and smiled before their attention was caught by Wrath standing in front of them. He placed his hands in a familiar gesture.

“That’s...Fairy Law.”

Wrath’s smile twitched up into a demonic smirk. A dark purple orb formed in his hands.

“Demonic Bomb!”

The entirety of the town of rubble was engulfed in a purple fog before spontaneous explosions sounded. Emi tried to cast her Shell of Divinity around everyone, but she couldn’t form that big a barrier in the short time she had. Explosions rung out from all directions, and she watched in horror as Wendy was blasted across the area. She turned around to see that Cana had fallen to the ground, and Yukino collapsed inside a crater that had been blown in when the explosion hit her. Tears started to blur Emi’s vision as more and more explosions came out, harming her friends before her eyes.

“Not again. I’m not letting it happen again!”

She engulfed herself in flames again and leaped at Wrath.

“Em!”

She kicked the Sin in the stomach before bringing her other leg down and catching the top of his head, forcing him down to the ground with the force of the kick. She snapped her fingers, trying to stop the explosions, but they wouldn’t stop. She gritted her teeth and her eyes turned black. 

“You will not mess with my friends again. I’ll make sure of it.”

Wrath looked up from the ground and laughed devilishly. He stood up fully and held his hand in the air.

“Assault of Plagues.”

Snakes and leeches started to rain onto the city, grabbing onto whoever was closets. They dripped with poison, and Emi could see that it took effect immediately after they were bitten. Emi used her Dispel, but they wouldn’t go away.

“You see, daughter of Cain, the spell itself was the summoning. You can’t cancel a spell that’s already over. This is just the aftermath.”

She glared at him before she took in a slow breath. She erupted in blue flames yet again, and she held her hands up in the air.

“Please god work the way I want you to,” Emi quietly begged before she cast the spell. “Armageddon!” 

Blue fire rained down from the sky. Emi put her full concentration into directing where the flames would go, fully well knowing that it could mean death if the blue flames hit one of her comrades. She heard the sizzling of the snakes as they burned to ash, as well as the leeches who had easily been defeated with a couple sparks. Emi quickly looked around to see that nobody had caught fire, breathing out in relief.

“Sting, do you have enough?”

He nodded and walked towards the writing on the ground. He sat down, touching the holy water that had been sprinkled over it and mumbling a couple words. The whole city started glowing a faint white as the holy water mixed with Sting’s holy energy. All of the Fairy Tail and Sabertooth wizards all started glowing too. Their wounds disappeared and the poison left their systems. 

“Wha--how?! When could you have possibly drawn that big of a circle?”

“Em and I took a trip here the other night to set it up. She knew she would teleport us here, so we wanted to be prepared.”

Emi looked over to Sting to see that he was struggling to keep his eyes open, thoroughly exhausted from all the magic energy he had used. He spoke softly, mirroring the way he speaks right before he falls asleep. She stepped over to him and mumbled her healing spell, trying to transfer some of her energy into him. 

“Don’t worry about me, Em. Focus on yourself for once, ‘kay?”

Her grip on his shoulders tightened, and he raised his hand to press onto hers in reassurance. Wrath stood, his knuckles white from the fists he was making. 

“You insolent humans. How dare you go against the Seven Deadly Sins. You’ll all die right where you stand!”

“What’s the matter, Wrath? A big, powerful demon can’t take on a couple of weak humans?” 

Everyone looked on in shock at Natsu’s taunting words. 

“Natsu,” Lucy hissed from afar. “what the hell are you trying to do? You’re gonna get yourself killed.”

“Killed? By this weak guy? No way.”

“Natsu, don’t taunt him too much,” Emi warned. “He’s the Sin of Wrath for a reason.”

The fire dragon slayer summoned his Efreet spell again, and the creatures lunged at the Sin, knocking him back. Sting stood weakly and used his Roar to push him further back.

“Sting, don’t waste your energy. Please.”

“There’s no time to conserve now, Em. We have a job to do. We have one guy down.”

“You actually don’t, but thanks for counting me out so soon.”

They looked in horror as they saw a bloodied Sloth stand by Wrath. 

“How? We totally hit you!”

“Are you seriously that weak that it didn’t kill you?” Laxus grunted.

“Daughter of Cain, you associate with some rather rude people.”

Sloth held his forehead before sighing loudly. He snapped his fingers, casting a spell. 

“Drain Life.”

Seconds later, everyone collapsed to the ground. Makarov was even struggling to move. 

“What...is this?”

“It should be pretty self explanatory. My spell drains the life out of anyone targeted by it. I can easily wipe you all out, though I’m sure Leader would rather take you.”

Natsu and Laxus dropped to their knees, and Sting was already face down on the ground. Emi gasped and jumped back over to him.

“Sting? Sting, can you hear me?”

He didn’t move, so she started to shake him.

“Sting,” she hissed, “now’s not the time.”

She gripped his shirt tightly, her tears starting to drip. Moments later, she too collapsed on her knees. She struggled to keep her eyes open, and she looked up to see that Wrath and Sloth looked on at the scene with pure delight on their faces. 

“You’re not...winning this.” 

“Oh, my dear daughter of Cain, I think we already have.”

She used the last of her energy to cast a spell that she knew would work. A whip of light formed and it wrapped around Sloth’s arm.

“Oh please,” Sloth scoffed, “a light whip won’t do you any good. Or is that the only spell you can manage to cast right now?”

Emi gave a weak smirk and revealed, “It’s not a light whip. This is my Life Whip spell. Meaning if I die, you die too.”

“What did you just say, you little brat?”

“This spell links the life force of whoever is connected. If I go down, then you’re coming with me.”

As if on cue, Sloth collapsed to the ground, finding himself too weak to stand any longer. He cursed and tried to rip the whip off him, but it was no use. 

“You’re seriously gonna die just so I can?”

“If that’s what it takes. You’re the one who can stop the spell and then it won’t matter how much life force we both have.”

“Sloth, if you cancel the spell, you still won’t have to think if you’ll die or not,” Wrath warned. “I’ll kill you myself.”

“So I guess either way you die, eh?” Emi joked. “Seems like a pretty rough deal if you ask me. I have enough strength in me to cast one more spell. I guess I’m just gonna have to force you to cancel it.”

“What do you--”

“Magia Kera,” she weakly whispered. 

Multiple magic circles surrounded Sloth before they pressed down into him. He was encased in light, and suddenly the giant cloud that hovered above them disappeared. She explained that it was the same sealing spell she had used on them in their last meeting.

“Now you won’t be able to use your magic abilities.”

Natsu began to stand up again, his strength slowly returning to him. Laxus was up next. Emi looked over and saw that everyone was slowly getting up, but they all still looked really weak. She turned to see behind her, but was met by a still motionless Sting. 

“Too bad for your mate there,” Sloth bit. “Seems he was weak enough after all the spells he used to just die.”

Emi forced herself to her feet and slowly walked over to Sting. 

“Em, watch out!”

Her head whipped up at Laxus’s shouts and was met with Wrath lunging at her with his fire. He formed another large crater when his fist made contact with the ground. He stood up and laughed maniacally. 

“Tell me, daughter of Cain, do you feel empty inside now? I always wanted to know what it felt like when someone in a mated couple dies. Is it painful?”

“Shut up.”

“Do you maybe lose any magical ability or senses?”

**“Shut up!”**

“Oh it seems I’ve touched a nerve.”

“Sword Summon: Warblade of the Blue Demon!”

Wrath and Sloth looked on with open mouths as Cain’s sword appeared in Emi’s hands. 

“That’s...impossible. You shouldn’t be able to handle a demon’s sword.”

Emi faced Sloth and snapped back, “Well what can I say? I guess that ‘traitor’ you speak so lowly of has some real skill in training people.”

Sloth prepared for the attack, well aware of the fact that he wouldn’t be able to defend against it.   
“Well Leader, I guess it’s farewell. Do me a favor and annihilate them all for me, yes?”

“I’m doing that anyway, but not because your pathetic excuse of a demon told me to. Now die already. You’ve been nothing but a nuisance this entire battle.”

Emi whipped the sheathed sword and cut the air, sending both Sins back. She slowly stepped in front of Sloth and growled lowly before unsheathing the sword and piercing his back. She retracted the sword and swung it, slicing his head off. The white haired woman used her Immolate spell to set his body on fire. She stood over the fire and watched as he disappeared into nothing but ash. 

“Six.”

The demon slayer hissed as she felt her back being sliced. The pain slowly died down, and there were now six clear whip marks on her back. She took in deep breaths and made her way over to Natsu and Laxus.

“Are you two okay? Do you need any healing?”

“Em, are you okay?”

She nodded and started healing both of them.

“Emi, are you sure? I mean we understand if you need time to mourn--”

“I said I’m fine,” she snapped. 

She stopped healing them and stood up to glare at Wrath again. He chuckled at her distraught face. 

“You humans are so predictable. So broken inside at the sight of the death of someone you had only known for a couple years. Honestly, us demons have been around for hundreds of years and you don’t see us crying over the death of our comrades.”

“That’s because you have no heart. You only care about yourself. I lived like that, and it’s horrible. I would much rather mourn those who I care deeply about that stand there and laugh like some sort of monster.”

Laxus joined Emi’s side, placing his hand on top of her head in a gesture of comfort. Lightning sparked, and the city was now underneath a large storm cloud. Thunder boomed from all around the city, and a lightning bolt struck Laxus dead on. He smiled as he took in the charge and dusted himself off. Wrath looked at him curiously as he tried to understand Laxus’s power or strategy.

“You’re an annoying little ant who means nothing, so why do you insist on fighting someone you know you can’t beat?”

Laxus smirked and threw back, “I could say the same thing to you. Anyone who hurts Fairy Tail is hurting my family. And you’ve gone and hurt someone that someone in my family cared deeply for.”

Natsu agreed and stood up, standing tall and with a deadly look on his face.

“Emi,” he said as he addressed the white haired woman, “go bring him back to the others. They can look out for him until this is all over.”

“But he’s already…”

“Doesn’t matter. You want him safe, right?”

Emi slowly nodded and thanked Natsu before she rushed over to Sting and lifted him up, dragging him back over towards the rest of Fairy Tail and Sabertooth. Makarov looked at her in pity. He couldn’t help but feel anger because, just as Laxus had said, the Sin had hurt someone his family cared about. 

“Will you...keep him safe?”

Makarov nodded and asked Rufus and Orga to take him. Sabertooth looked on at their master and their tears started to come. Emi looked back one last time before taking in a deep breath. She decided to try to sneak behind Wrath, so she opted into ducking into the tunnel Virgo had made. She appeared next to Lucy and Wendy. 

“Do you have your keys back?”

Lucy shook her head and pointed to the ground by Wrath. She summoned her Light Whip and pulled the keys back over. 

“Tell Loke I said sorry when you see him next. I didn’t really have a choice.”

“I’m sure he understands.”

Emi nodded before going to climb out of the tunnel. Lucy grabbed her wrist before she could, and Emi looked back in confusion. 

“That thing that we were talking about the other day, will it still work?”

“Possibly, but we didn’t have time to set it up.”

“What if Happy or Charle went to get it?” Wendy suggested. 

Emi stayed silent in thought and nodded. Wendy quickly ran back towards the group at the other end of the tunnel to tell the exceeds what to do. She looked like she was about to cry when she caught sight of Lector laying on top of Sting’s stomach, curled up tightly. She quickly asked Charle and Happy to hurry. 

Laxus and Natsu continued to stare down Wrath. Natsu used his Exploding Flame Blade as his first move, and he was able to catch Wrath’s wrist in the fire. Laxus joined in, using his Lightning Dragon Jaw and knocking Wrath down. Emi jumped out of the tunnel and rushed at Wrath. She reached them, and they turned to Emi expectantly. 

“You’ve given me the strength I need, Wrath, Thank you.”

“What on earth are you talking about?”

She smirked and placed her hands in an overlaying cross, much like the Iced Shell stance. She mumbled an incantation. Soon birds, glass, explosions, space warps, a hazy fog, blue flames, gas, and water came whipping around her. 

“Thanks to you, you’ve made me come face to face with my failures. And I want you to feel them too.”

Wrath looked at all the different magic types that were circling him, and he finally recognized the spell. 

“Rage of Failures? There’s no way you’ll be able to pull that off.”

Light soon joined the mix, and Wrath’s eyes widened. Emi narrowed her eyes before unsheathing Cain’s sword and sticking it into the mixing magics. The sword was coated in the magical energy, and Emi sliced the air behind Wrath. He was sent flying across the area and he smashed into a building. Emi placed the sword on the ground, using it as a support object to lean on. Laxus helped support her when he reached her, grabbing her and letting her lean on him. 

“Don’t push yourself too hard, Em. You need to save your energy in case you need more magic later.”

“I won’t really need to worry about that for much longer.”

“Lady Emiko!”

“Don’t be so reckless, Em. You don’t wanna end up totally exhausted and useless.”


	142. Summoning

“Don’t be so reckless, Em. You don’t wanna end up totally exhausted and useless.”

Emi turned around, immediately recognizing the voice. It was him. And he was...alive? Her mouth hung open, as did the mouths of Laxus and Natsu. 

“Wha--how did...what?”

“You can’t count me out so easily. Jeez.”

“But you--”

“ _Resting._ Ya know, storing up the massive amounts of energy needed to do that spell? I was so exhausted I couldn’t even move, and I think I passed out or something. I dunno.”

“You weren’t breathing,” Emi defended.

“Really? Weird.”

“This isn’t funny! I thought…”

Sting gave a lopsided grin before playfully opening his arms for her. She wasted no time in going over to him. Lector landed on Sting’s head, still crying from the overwhelming joy he felt.

“So are we using the spell? I’m ready to actually die now.”

Emi smacked the back of his head and told Lector to go back to the group. Sting held his head in pain and laughed nervously. Wrath had made his way back over to them, clearly pissed off and seething. 

“As much as I hate it, I do actually think we’ll have to.”

Sting smiled wide, giving her a quick kiss and turning so his back was against hers. They interlocked their hands together while they faced away from each other.

“You guys might wanna get back. Dragons and shit, ya know?”

“H-Huh?”

Laxus grabbed Natsu and dragged him to the tunnel. He grabbed Lucy and Wendy as well, bringing them all over to the main group on the other side.

“Why are you all over here? Shouldn’t you be helping them?” Gajeel asked. “I only left because they needed me back here, so why’re you all back here?”

“He’s still really weak, Laxus. He needs help. He could barely stand on his own.”

Laxus looked at his grandfather and explained that the two of them wanted them to leave. When he was asked why, Natsu stepped forward and answered for him, repeating Sting’s words. Rogue gasped.

“What is it?”

“The spell they’re gonna try, it’s fatal.”

“That’s good right?” Cana pressed.

“It’s a dragon summoning spell.”

“Dragon? No way!” Lucy yelled, shocked. 

“So what’s so bad about that?” Gajeel asked.

Rufus decided to take over the explanation, saying, “It’s a spell that is only able to be used by a dragon slayer and their mate. The bond shared needs to be unbreakable, and it comes at a cost.”

“What do you mean?”

“The spell is nearly impossible to cast, and its success rate in hovering around zero percent. If they fail…”

“What?”

Rufus looked at Makarov seriously as he finished his explanation, “If they successfully cast the spell, a powerful dragon will appear. It’s basically the guardian dragon, which is what the spell is called. If they fail...the weaker of the two will die.”

“What? Why?”

“It’s supposed to be to deter people from carelessly trying to summon the dragon. It’s the same logic of why the Celestial Spirit King can only be summoned once through the sacrifice of a gold key. Sting would be the obvious weaker of them, so it would be him that dies if it fails.”

Sting and Emi squeezed each other’s hands before breathing in deeply.

“Ready?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be.”

“Hey Em?”

“Yeah?”

“Just wanted to make sure you knew that I love you.”

Emi’s grip on Sting’s hands tightened.

“I love you too.”

“Alright. Let’s do this!”

They raised their interlocked hands up and chanted the incantation. White magic circles appeared above and below them, glowing brighter as they finished the incantation. 

“Summoning: Guardian Dragon!”

The magic circles pulsed before shooting up to the sky. A blinding light exploded above the city of rubble. The light faded and they looked around. Nothing seemed to be happening.

“Did it not work?” Lucy asked.

“Well he’s not dead, so it must’ve, right?” Erza quizzed.

They all watched in horror as Emi fell to her knees before completely collapsing on the ground.


	143. Guardian

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: So here's the second portion of the previous chapter. I felt that they needed to be separate chapters, but I'm posting them at the same time. Thanks!

“Did that just happen?” Yukino tested. 

“I thought you said the weaker of the two would die!” Natsu shouted. 

“That’s how it works,” Rogue said, defending Rufus and his explanation.

“It seems,” Rufus stated, “that there might have been a power difference we didn’t know of. This whole time I assumed that Emi was clearly the stronger of the two, but if this is happening then it’s actually Sting who is the stronger one.”

“No way,” Gray breathed. “That guy is stronger than Emi?”

Sting immediately turned back around when he heard a thump. His eyes widened and he knelt down beside her.

“Em? Are you okay?”

She didn’t respond, and he looked around and so no sign of the dragon.

“...Em?”

“This is great!” Wrath exclaimed. “Now that she’s finally dead, I can relax. You know, killing her was my only goal when I hunted her down, but I think I’ll entertain myself by killing all of you as well!”

Sting glared at Wrath, tight fists forming at his sides. 

“You’re gonna pay for everything you’ve put her through, you hear me?!”

“Weren’t you supposed to be dead already?” Wrath asked, bored with the dragon slayer. 

Sting went to say something, but he saw Emi’s hand twitch. He rushed to her side once more and helped her up. 

“Don’t scare me like that,” he chided. “You made me think I lost you.”

“Oh what? You can ‘die’ but I can’t? Double standards much? I’m tired.”

“Well if you’re not dead, and I’m not dead, does that mean--”

He was cut off by a roar that shook the entire city. Buildings were breaking apart and falling over from the shockwaves. Sting and Emi looked upwards and smiled wide when they saw a golden dragon circling the city. 

“Holy shit,” Rogue choked.

“They did it?” Natsu questioned. “That’s so cool!”

The dragon swooped down, its wings destroying the multiple buildings that it touched. It hovered above where Sting, Wrath and Emi were standing.

“Which one has summoned me here to this town of rubble?”

“Uh, that would be us,” Sting explained as he pointed to Emi and himself. 

“What do you want with my time, boy? I’m very busy.”

“Mister Guardian Dragon, sir, if I may?”

The dragon shifted his gaze over to the short white haired wizard and urged her on.

“Well, we summoned you to help us with the Sin.”

“Sin? As in Seven Deadly Sins, the demons from the Book of Zeref?”

“Yes, sir.”

“You want me to help you defeat the Sin?”

“Yes please, Mister Guardian Dragon, sir.”

“Which one of you is the dragon slayer?”

Sting raised his hand. The dragon sighed before landing on the ground, sending tremors throughout the city. Almost everyone present fell over from the violent shakes. The dragon demanded that Emi and Sting get on his back, and they quickly did so. 

“You should’ve tried to find a demon slayer if you wanted to take on the Seven Deadly Sins, boy.”

“Actually, my mate is a demon slayer. We’re trying to find a loophole.”

“To what?”

“Well if she is able to kill all of the Seven Deadly Sins, she dies. So I’m helping to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

“And why?”

“Because she’s my mate and I care about her?”

“Very well. I’ll assist in this...loophole. I cannot guarantee that I’ll be able to defeat him.”

“Don’t worry Mister Guardian Dragon, sir. I believe in you. Besides, we’ve weakened him considerably.”

The dragon nodded before taking off again, shaking the ground and knocking another group of buildings down. Once he was at the desired height, he opened his mouth, a laser attack gathering inside. Sting cupped Emi’s head to block her ears from the loud sound that he knew was coming. 

“Ears!” Rogue, Natsu, Gajeel and Wendy shouted.

Everyone put their hands over their ears like they were directed. They all saw the dragon release a white laser attack, striking Wrath where he stood. Everyone closed their eyes from the blinding light. When they opened their eyes, they saw the dragon landing back on the ground. Sting hopped off before helping Emi down, and they both walked over to where Wrath was standing to see that he was struggling on his hands and knees. They turned to the dragon and thanked him, waving him off and he flew into the sky and disappeared. 

Emi walked over to the bent over Sin and cleared her throat.

“You bitch,” he snarled. “Don’t you dare think you’re--”

“You’re not in a very good position to talk,” Sting sassed. 

Emi told Sting to get back, and it was when she started glowing blue that he actually did, opting to not get in the way of whatever she was going to do next. He stood off to the side, catching his breath and trying to restore the energy he lost from all the magic energy he used. Emi instructed him to go back over to the rest of the group as they stood at a distance and, after bickering, he reluctantly did so. 

“You wanna know something, Wrath?”

“What?” He bit.

Her hands started glowing blue, and flames shot up into the sky.

“Woah,” Lucy breathed. “What is that?”

Everyone looked up to the sky to see that the flames burned in the sky in the shape of a bird with its wings flared. Emi narrowed her eyes and slammed her palms onto the ground, causing the creature of blue flames to swoop down and engulf the Sin.

“Phoenix!”

Everything went quiet, and Fairy Tail and Sabertooth looked on to see what had happened. Emi slowly walked so she was standing right in front of the dust pile and bent down to pick some of it up. She smiled softly and looked up to the sky before closing her eyes.

“Seven.”

Sting made his way back over to her and chuckled and grabbed both her shoulders, turning her around to face him. He leaned down slightly to press their foreheads together and sighed.

“So...it’s over?” Sting tested. 

“I think so,” was her quiet reply. 

“You’re not gonna die now, right?”

“The loophole seemed to work. Wrath was already dying before I hit him. I just disposed of his body basically.”

“Lady Emiko, Sting!”

They turned to see Lector flying at them at top speed. He slammed into Emi and hugged her tight. 

“I’m so glad you’re okay!”

“Hey! What about me? Aren’t you glad I’m okay too?”

“Of course I am, but Lady Emiko was the one who almost died, yes.”

“What are you talking about? I almost died too!”

“Lector, you shouldn’t have come over here without our okay,” Emi scolded.

“Why not, Lady Emiko? It’s safe now!”

“How do you know that? What if Wrath’s ghost was still here and he went to harm you?”

“There’s a ghost here?!”

“Way to go, Em. He’s not gonna sleep tonight now.”

She giggled and hugged the exceed tightly. Sting laughed and joined in, his long arms wrapping around Emi and Lector. Everyone else had slowly drifted over to the three and stood around them. 

“It’s all over now, right?” Lucy urged. 

Everyone breathed out when they saw Emi nod. She broke apart from the hug and hopped over to the dust pile again and stomped her foot down on top of it. 

“We don’t have anything else to worry about now.”

“No ghosts?” Lector hopefully asked. 

“No ghosts,” Emi assured.

Sting felt a cold sensation on his right hand and he jumped back, letting out a yelp.

“Okay, maybe there’s _one_ ghost. But she’s harmless. I promise.”


	144. Decrescendo

“So, uh, what do we do now?”

Emi shrugged and looked around, taking in the destruction that the battle had caused. 

“We really went off on this place. Good thing we fought here and not the city.”

She took in a deep breath, wordlessly walking off towards the other end of the town of rubble.

“Where the hell do you think you’re going?” Laxus questioned. “You need to rest. You’re gonna die if you push yourself any more.”

She disappeared into the city. Everyone looked at each other in confusion. Laxus and Sting sighed before going after her. The two dragon slayers had caught up to her as she stood in front of a pile of rocks with her head bowed. 

“What’s this?”

“Cain.”

Sting held her shoulders in comfort as he stood behind her. Emi leaned back slightly, the back of her head leaning on his chest. The three of them stayed there for a few minutes in silence before Emi started to giggle.

“What’s up with you?” Laxus sarcastically spoke.

“I just realized that I don’t really have anything to do now. Which means I can put all my time into annoying you.”

Laxus rolled his eyes and walked away. Emi giggled more.

“You big baby.”

It was just Emi and Sting once Laxus left, and they continued to stand in silence.

“You remember everything, yeah?”

Emi hummed, turning around in his grasp to look at him fully. He smiled fondly at her and caressed her cheek. The white haired wizard leaned on her toes to reach his face and gave him a quick kiss. Their moment was cut off when they heard screaming. They rushed back towards the group and sweatdropped when they saw that the screaming was coming from the group.

“What the heck are you guys doing?” Sting asked confused.

“Happy and Charle brough this weird lacrima thing and it’s been messing with us,” Lucy explained, disgusted at the situation.

“What do you mean?” Sting questioned. 

Emi sighed and walked to the center of the group where the lacrima sat. She carefully picked it up and walked over to an empty space next to the crowd. She told everyone to get back and once they did, Emi slammed the lacrima to the ground, cracking it. Blue flames burst out from the lacrima, and surrounding buildings were set on fire. 

“Woah what the heck is that?” Natsu shouted.

“It’s obviously Cain’s flames, fire freak.”

The flames continued to whip around, burning anything it touched. They surrounded Emi, but she wasn’t affected. They started to surround the group, and everyone started to panic. Emi snapped her fingers to use the Dispel and the flames disappeared. 

“Hey brat, do you mind? You almost set us all on fire.”

A small smile formed on Emi’s face. She tossed the lacrima off to the side and turned back to the group. 

“I figured we should get that out of the way before we go back, yeah?”

“Lady Emiko is very smart, yes. That would’ve destroyed the city.”

“Cain had inserted his flames into this lacrima as a last resort in case we were ever separated. I was gonna use the flames to try to help with the Sins, but we didn’t need them. So I figured that I would destroy them before they caused any trouble.”

“How aren’t you burned by them?” Levy questioned. “The Blue Demon’s flames should burn through anything, yet you’ve been surrounded by them many times and they have no effect on you.”

“My name is Emi Sato, and I am the daughter of Cain. His flames don’t work on me.”

“He’s your dad?!” Natsu screamed.

“No you idiot,” Lucy bit. “It’s figurative.”

“Finger salad? What would anyone want a--”

Lucy smacked him on the back of the head. Emi laughed quietly before saying that she thought of him as a dad.

“I was always called the ‘daughter of Cain’ by those that knew of me. Mainly demons. My real name is Emiko Mashiba, though it took me quite a long time to remember that.”

“That’s so cool. You totally have two last names!”

Everyone sighed in defeat at the fire dragon slayer. 

“Hey Laxus, isn’t that so cool?” Emi excitedly started. “I can remember my name now! And I was starting to think that I would never know my last name.”

“Yeah yeah. Real impressive.”

Natsu stepped so he was in front of Emi and grabbed her shoulders.

“I know what we should do. We should all take Emi out to eat!”

Emi smiled and nodded, snapping her fingers and teleporting them just outside Crocus. Natsu immediately ran into the town, presumably to a restaurant. They had all caught up to him and found that he had located a buffet style restaurant. 

“Oh god,” Lucy moaned. “He’s gonna get so sick.”

\-------

Emi had escaped the group to go off on a walk alone, and she wandered over to the park. After scanning the area, she saw a bunch of families having picnics and playing in the field. She sat down under her usual tree and silently watched the joy of the families. Her legs were bent and her head rested on her knees. A sigh escaped her.

“They’re all so happy.”

“Can’t deny that. Though they seem a little too loud.”

“That’s because you don’t like when people have a lot of energy.”

She turned around to face Laxus and gave him a small smile.

“How’d you find me?”

“I figured you’d be here. It’s kinda been known as your place since you regained your memories.”

Emi nodded and patted the spot next to her, telling him to join her and watch the people. Laxus huffed, but he did sit down eventually.

“I regret so much,” Emi started. “My choices caused so many people harm. But now I’m a little happy. And it feels so wrong.”

“You finally defeated what you worked your whole life to get. It’s not abnormal to feel like that. You have to live how you think they would want you to, and maybe you’ll feel better.”

“If they were alive they would hate me for what I did.”

Laxus scoffed and leaned back on his hands, “Are you kidding? Your memories made it pretty clear that they would be willing to risk everything for their family, even if it meant that they would get hurt.”

“Would Fairy Tail?”

“Without a doubt.”

Emi groaned and unfolded herself, laying back on the grass. 

“...Would you?”

“Me?” Laxus laughed. “I think I’ve already done that.”

“That’s what I’m worried about,” she muttered.

“And I’m kind of thinking that Sting would.”

She covered her eyes and whined, “You all need to stop caring for me so much.”

“Em, you have no one after you now. You can live without that fear of all of us being attacked. You can live a normal life now.”

She sat up slightly and looked at him with curious eyes, hesitantly asking, “I can?”

Laxus’s laugh echoed in her ears. 

“If you really want something to do, then just focus on something else.”

Emi looked off to the field and watched the kids play. She smirked to herself before scooting over to the lightning mage’s side and snuggling into his side. She heard a huff, causing Emi to giggle.

“Baby.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's getting towards the end of the book! There's going to be a few more chapters.


	145. Departure

“Lady Emiko, look at this!”

Emi turned her attention to the maroon exceed and saw that he was holding a small pot. Once he walked closer she leaned down to look at the small flower that sat inside. 

“That’s really pretty, Lector.”

“It’s for you!”

“Me?” Emi mused, a big smile on her face.

“Sting and I went to get you a flower, yes.”

“Well thank you.”

“We got a baby flower so we could watch it grow,” Lector excitedly explained. 

She gave a genuine smile and took the plant from the exceed and placed it on the table where she was sitting. The three of them made casual conversation, Sting coming to sit across from her and Lector sitting on Sting’s head. 

“Yo Emi!” Natsu shouted. “Can you make something? It’s been so long since I had your spicy cooking.”

Sting looked at his idol annoyed, aggravated that he had (once again) interrupted his time with his mate. Emi giggled and stood up, nodding to Natsu and waving him on before leaving the inn. 

“Master,” Erza addressed as she stood beside Makarov, “when do you think we will be leaving to return to Magnolia?”

“Probably within the next couple days.”

“Aw,” Lucy whined, “I’m really gonna miss Emi. Does she have to go?”

“Well duh,” Sting interjected. “She’s my mate.”

\-------

After about two hours, Emi and Natsu returned with a plate of cookies. 

“I don’t even know why you bothered to bring them back here, brat. Nobody can eat them.”

Emi rolled her eyes at Laxus and handed him a cookie.

“Just try it.”

“No.”

“Come on, try it.”

“I said no.”

“Please?”

“Not a chance.”

“Try it!”

The lightning dragon slayer groaned, but he took the cookie. He sniffed it and raised his eyebrow before taking a bite.

“What did you do to it?” He asked, suspicious of her cooking.

“Nothing. I just didn’t put hot sauce in it. See, isn’t it good?”

Laxus gave her a side look before eating the rest of the cookie. Emi cheered when she saw him eat it and spun around to face everyone else, announcing that there were desserts. Makarov took a cookie and thanked her, eating it in one bite. He was coughing violently a second later. Everyone sweatdropped. 

“Master Grampa, I’m so sorry. You must’ve gotten one of Natsu’s cookies!”

“Way to go, brat. You could've told us that they were mixed.”

Emi gave a sheepish smile before handing Makarov a plain cookie.

“Here, Master Grampa. This one is safe.”

“I think I’m full, but thank you child.”

\-------

“Alright! Back to Magnolia we go!” Natsu shouted. 

Fairy Tail had gathered all their stuff as they prepared to leave the city of Crocus. Sabertooth had also packed their bags and went over to the Fairy Tail inn to say their goodbyes. Laxus tapped Emi on the shoulder and playfully held out his arms, mirroring Emi’s many times of coaxing a hug from the lightning wizard before his jobs. Emi giggled and hugged him tight. She then turned to Sting and held his hands. 

“Ready to go?”

Emi nodded, her hand coming up to hold his cheek. She kissed him softly before stepping away. 

“I’m gonna miss you.”

“I’ll miss you t...what?”

The white haired woman smiled brightly at the dragon slayer before pointing over her shoulder. 

“I’m gonna miss you. But don’t you worry! I’ll be visiting when I get the chance.”

Everyone blinked a few times before letting out, “WHAT?!”

Emi looked around at everyone, slightly confused. 

“What’s wrong?”

“You can’t seriously be going back with Fairy Tail, are you?” Sting pressed.

“Well yeah. I’m a member, see?” Emi simply replied as she pointed to her guild crest.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me. You’re my mate!”

“Yes, and they’re my guild.”

“No way!” Sting protested as he latched himself onto her and prevented her from moving.

Natsu stepped forward and picked Emi up and held her away from Sting.

“She’s ours.”

“No she’s not! She’s coming to Sabertooth!”

“No way. Emi’s staying with us.”

“She’s my mate!”

“And she’s my friend!”

Sting and Natsu stared each other down, Natsu still preventing Emi from moving anywhere.

“You can’t be serious. Give her back!”

Natsu let out a childish “you can’t make me” while starting to walk away, carrying Emi further away from the Sabertooth master. 

“If you even think that I’m gonna let you take her after I spent three fucking years looking for her then you’re the biggest idiot I’ve ever known.”

“Then just call me stupid,” Natsu said while shrugging. 

“She’s coming to Sabertooth!”

“She’s a Fairy Tail wizard, so--”

“No she’s fucking not! Give her back.”

“Uh, guys?” Emi questioned, trying to interrupt. “Maybe you should--”

“If you want me to fight you for her then I will gladly do that.”

Natsu’s eyes lit up and he accepted his challenge.

“Just remember that I beat you last time,” Natsu cockily stated.

Emi sighed and wiggled out of Natsu’s hold. She stood between the two and pinched her nose.

“Guys, I really don’t think--”

“I’m all fired up now!”

“Hey uh,” Levy quietly addressed the rest of Fairy Tail, “does this count as ‘fighting on behalf of a mate?’”

“Oh shit.”

Makarov stomped over to Natsu and started to lecture him, “What do you think you’re doing? You’re not supposed to provoke him like that.”

“Why not?”

“Are you forgetting that he’s mated and will fight to the death?”

Laxus sighed and walked up to the two dragon slayers and grabbed Emi by the back of her collar to lift her away from them. Her legs dangled off the ground as she squirmed. 

“You cause a lot of trouble, don’t you brat?”

Emi nervously laughed and flashed a grin towards him. 

“Let her go.”

Laxus looked over at Sting and raised his eyebrow. 

“You want me to let go?”

“That’s what I said.”

“I don’t really feel like it.”

“Laxus!” Makarov scolded. “What on earth do you think you’re doing?!”

“I’m breaking up a fight between Natsu and Sting, Gramps. What else?”

“By provoking him to fight you instead? That’s just as bad!”

Emi sighed and continued to squirm until she was able to wiggle out of Laxus’s hold. She softly landed on the ground and took in a deep breath. Sting was about to lunge at Natsu and Laxus when he was cemented to the floor by Emi’s Frostbite spell. Groups of ice encased both his feet, preventing him from moving. 

“Cancel the spell.”

“Sting, I want to go to Fairy Tail.”

“But why?”

“Because I made a promise to Natsu.”

“What? When?”

“At the ball. I promised that I would stay with Fairy Tail.”

“But that was before you regained your memories. That doesn’t even count.”

“I’ll visit whenever I can.”

“Fuck that.”

Before Emi could ask him what he meant, she was scooped up by Sting and held firmly bridal style in his arms. She rolled her eyes as she was carried out of the Fairy Tail inn. 

“Where are you going with our guild member?” Natsu shouted. 

“To Sabertooth. She’s our guild member now.”

“Lady Emiko will like it very much, yes.”


	146. Sabertooth

“You can put me down now,” Emi sassily spoke up.

Sting made no move to show that he heard her and kept walking towards the Sabertooth guildhall. 

“What are we doing when we get back, Sting?” Lector excitedly questioned. 

“Well first we have to get Em set up and then we can go show her around if you two are up for it.”

“I never knew Sabertooth was this close to Crocus,” Emi commented as she lifted her head from Sting’s shoulder. 

“See? Exactly why you’ll like it here better. You can go to Crocus whenever you want and you don’t even have to take the train.”

“Plus we have the mountains, yes.”

“You know what would be really great?”

Yukino quietly guessed, “A party?”

“Close! Picture this, tigers: pool!”

“Pool?” 

Emi nodded enthusiastically towards Orga and wiggled out of Sting’s grasp. She landed back on her feet and struck a pose.

“A pool would be so cool! We could swim whenever we wanted and it would be so relaxing and--”

“Okay, okay,” Sting laughed. “I’ll look into it.”

“YES!”

Emi was shown around the main room of the guildhall. It was mostly her rambling about whatever flew through her mind while Sting tried to keep her on task. She spotted the main area and saw a single chair, so naturally she bolted for it and hopped on it.

“Hey, careful with that! That’s the master’s cha--oh.”

The white haired woman giggled along with Sabertooth’s loud laughter. She bounced off the chair and landed in front of him with a bright smile. 

“Is there ice cream near here?”

Sting wordlessly made his way over to the door and waved her on. 

“Come on everyone,” Emi prompted. “We’re all going out for a celebratory ice cream. The master’s paying!”

The blond dragon slayer gave her a side eye, but it seemed as though he had finally accepted his fate of always paying for ice cream. Emi caught him off guard when she jumped on him from behind. He staggered forward a little before he could balance out again. 

“Give a guy a warning, Em.”

\-------

The Sabertooth team and Emi had found a quiet spot towards the center of the park in town and gathered around an open area. Sting had an arm around Emi’s shoulders as they all continued to eat their ice cream. The white haired woman smiled devilishly before swiping some ice cream off her cone and wiping across Sting’s nose. He pulled back out of instinct and scrunched his nose.

“Do you mind?”

“Not at all. Want some more?”

Yukino giggled quietly at the scene playing out in front of her. 

“So when’s the next request?”

Sting looked down to his mate and raised an eyebrow.

“We literally just defeated the most powerful beings in the Book of Zeref and you wanna go on a request _now_?”

“I haven’t been on a request in such a long time,” she stated simply. “I forgot what they’re about.”

“If I remember,” Rufus interrupted, “we all saw you go on a bunch of requests through your memories.”

“That doesn’t count!” Emi replied seriously. “I wanna go first-hand. Maybe to a faraway village or up in the snowy mountains. Or what if it’s a really cool historic information request? Maybe searching through old ruins in a library to figure out some cool mystery! Maybe--”

“We’ll give it a couple days before we go on one. I have to do some formal master stuff or whatever.”

Emi sighed and quietly pouted as she finished her ice cream. 

\-------

“So this is your office?”

“I mean, I guess so. This is my first time here without being yelled at.”

“I think it’s a little boring. I mean,” she drawled as she pointed to a blank wall, “there’s nothing on the walls at all and the furniture is all brown.”

“The Master wasn’t that keen on things other than being strong, so I doubt he cared.”

Emi’s face twisted in disgust, simply explaining, “It smells.”

She walked over to the desk and coughed when a cloud of smoke billowed out of one of the drawers that she opened. 

“He must’ve never dusted this place. God, what a mess.”

Sting chuckled quietly by the door as Emi continued to explore. The white haired wizard disappeared momentarily, but she quickly rejoined Sting, holding a blank sheet of paper and a writing utensil. 

“Okay! We need a plan.”

“A plan? For what?”

“There is no way in hell I’m staying here if your office looks like this.”

“Oh come on. It ain’t that ba--”

Emi cut him off when she pushed the couch off the wall to reveal a couple of dead rats.

“Stop being so stubborn and grab a cloth.”

Sting laughed loudly, but searched for a cloth nonetheless. He was instructed to dust the desk and windows while Emi disposed of the dead animals and swept away the cobwebs. Sting involuntarily gagged when he lifted the cloth to his nose. 

“You idiot. Why would you smell that?” Emi scolded. “Your nose made it even worse.”

The dragon slayer laughed nervously and turned back to his duties when she snapped her fingers. 

“Sting!” Lector screamed as he padded into the office. “We should totally show Lady Emiko the...what are you guys doing?”

“Em’s making me clean the office, buddy.”

“That’s right. And we’re going back to wherever you live next. So it better be clean, Lector.”

The exceed paled and bolted out of the office.

“You gotta give me a little bit, Lady Emiko! It’s not clean yet!”

Sting laughed at the familiar scene and cracked open the window to air out the dust and smell. He leaned his back against the desk and crossed his arms casually.

“So what’re we doing tonight?”

“Depends on what time we finish here.”

“Oh hell no. Because when we get home you’re gonna do the same thing and then we’ll get absolutely nothing fun done.”

“Then you shouldn’t be so messy.”

He rolled his eyes and made his way over to her, wrapping his arms around her from behind while she wasn’t paying attention. His face nuzzled into the side of her neck and his hands held her arms by her sides. Emi let out a small hum as she rolled her head back to rest on his shoulder. 

“You know what would be really nice?” She spoke suddenly.

“What would that be?”

She spun around and placed her hands on his chest as she learned up and kissed the base of his neck. Sting’s chest rumbled with laughter before pulling away.

“I think I can accommodate that.”

Emi smirked and traced his skin from his shoulder to his wrist. She leaned on her tiptoes to reach his ear and whispered, “Then we better get to cleaning.”

Sting’s face dropped before he huffed and sassily picked the cloth back up, leaving Emi to erupt in amused laughter.

“That’s just not fair,” Sting mumbled. 

“Think of it as an incentive.”

“No because then we’re gonna get home and then we’ll clean there, and then when we’re finally done cleaning it’s gonna be time for bed. And then Lector sleeps really close so we can’t do anything and then tomorrow we come to the guildhall and I have to do whatever I’m supposed to be doing as master.”

Emi looked on entertained at his animated hands and indignant tone. After he had finished his rant, he started wiping off the chair that sat in an out-of-place spot by the corner. Emi grabbed another cloth and started to wipe the couch. 

“I need water.”

The white haired woman looked at Sting in confusion before asking him to elaborate. He pointed to the window, explaining that he needed to wipe it down with water because it was so dirty. 

“And?”

Sting held out his cloth and wiggled it.

“Sting, what the fuck are you doing?”

“You can splash some water on the cloth,” Sting stated matter-of-factly. 

Emi let out a small “oh” and cast her Drip spell. Sting smiled victoriously.

“See? I didn’t even have to leave to get some. I’m being _productive_.”

She rolled her eyes and grabbed the broom. A knock was heard in the doorway and they both turned to see Rogue and Frosch.

“Why did Lector run out of here like he saw a ghost?”

“Fro wants to know, too!”

“Em said she was checking his room when we got back.”

Rogue laughed quietly and scanned the room.

“You’re…”

“Cleaning? Yes, unfortunately.”

“Hey Rogue, do you think yellow or blue would look best in here?”

The shadow dragon slayer shifted his gaze to Emi and shrugged.

“Probably a blue. Yellow would get a little bright.”

She clapped her hands together and smiled, thanking him and returning to wiping down the couch. Sting got an idea and grinned at his friend.

“You wanna help--”

“Not a chance, Eucliffe.”

Sting’s face fell and he started to mutter something under his breath. Emi had opened the window and held her hands up and started to chant something. The dragon slayer realized a bit too late, and he was soon faced with her Turbinis spell as the air in the room whipped around. The wind died down and the office settled. She smiled wide and put her hands on her hips.

“We’re done with dusting!”

“You could’ve started with that,” Sting sassed back. 

“Now we can work on rearranging!”

“Only on the paper,” Sting affirmed. “I wanna actually do something today.”

“Deal.”

\-------

“I’m telling you, Sting. The couch would look better in this corner.”

“I’m putting a little bed in that corner.”

“You can’t have a _bed_ in your office.”

“It’s for Lector.”

Emi rolled her eyes and quickly drew in the bed in the mentioned corner. She started to reconfigure the room and suggested that the couch could replace the chairs that would sit in front of the desk. 

“Why?”

“Comfy.”

Sting rejected the idea and pointed to the right wall. Emi shrugged and drew it in. She then brought up the desk position and Sting shook his head.

“I’m getting a new desk.”

“But this one is fine.”

“It wouldn’t be able to hold you up though.”

“What are you…you’re buying an entire new desk for that? I think I’ll be fine.”

Without missing a beat, Sting slapped the top of the desk. It gave away and crumbled to the floor. Emi looked on in shock. 

“Told you. Wouldn’t want you to get any splinters.”

She rolled her eyes and set the desk pieces on fire.

“Don’t do that inside! You’re gonna set the whole hall on fire.”


	147. Three Years

Emi took in the apartment that Sting and Lector lived in. It was way bigger than the one that they had in Crocus. The kitchen was huge, which she didn’t understand since neither of them really knew how to cook. It had two full bathrooms and a big living room that fit two couches. 

“You guys really scaled up from last time.”

“Being part of the strongest guild in Fiore has its perks. One of them being a lot of requests which means a lot of rewards.”

“Lady Emiko!” Lector shouted as he ran over to meet them at the front door. “My room is all clean now, yes.”

“I can’t wait for a tour.”

Lector excitedly grabbed her hand with his paw and tugged her over to his room. She was led into a room that was covered in cat towers and ropes. Awe ran through her whole body, increasing when she was pulled over to his bed that had steps up to a huge indoor tree house that hung from the ceiling. 

“Lector, this is amazing,” she breathed.

“I like it a lot, yes. And it’s clean now!”

Emi turned to Sting and quipped, “So do you have a cool room like this too?”

He gave a lopsided grin and motioned for her to follow him. They reached his room and she got a quick tour. His room was plain, but it still had a lot of stuff. He had a gigantic bed and a long place to keep all his pictures. Emi’s eyes wandered over to his dresser and smiled sadly when she saw the small picture of Phoenix Wing. Another picture of the three of them was placed next to it. 

“Am I allowed to stay in your room, Sting?” She joked.

“No.”

Emi furrowed her eyebrows and went to say something, but Lector cut her off. 

“You can see your room now, Lady Emiko! It’s very nice, yes.”

“My room?”

Sting gently pushed her down the hall to a door and opened it. The three of them stepped in and Emi didn’t know where to look. There was an entire wall of bookcases, completely filled from floor to ceiling. The other wall donned a child’s (or, more likely, an exceed’s) drawings of flowers.

“You guys...you did all this?”

“I would go to the bookstore and buy a book after every request,” Sting stated, a small smile on his face. “It got to the point that I could barely find one I didn’t already buy.”

“I drew a picture of every new flower I learned about. I knew that you would like to see them!”

“Why would you both do all this?”

“We did it so that you would have a great room for when we found you again, yes.”

“You guys did this for three years?”

“We couldn’t do it as much before we joined Sabertooth and got the money, but we always have been yeah.”

Emi’s nose tingled and seconds later she collapsed onto the floor. Sting started to freak out and dropped to the floor to check on her when he saw that she was crying hysterically. 

“Em, are you--”

“I just...how did you keep this up? Why didn’t you give up and move on?”

“Move on?” Sting laughed as he rubbed her cheek. “There was no moving on, Em. No way.”

“We knew we would find you again, Lady Emiko. We never gave up hope. And it worked!”

Her tears wouldn’t stop, so Sting leaned back and waved Lector to join them on the floor. The exceed readily did so and soon the two of them started to squeeze Emi into a tight hug. Her sobs soon subsided to sniffles as she tightly gripped Sting’s chest. She could feel his fingers running through her hair and Lector’s paw rubbing her back comfortingly. 

“You guys sure are something else,” she finally choked out. “Very stubborn that’s for sure.”

Sting gave a childish grin and started to laugh. 

“We love you, Em. We never gave up hope.”

“I love you very much, yes!”

\-------

It had been about six months, and everyone had started to settle. Emi wandered into the guildhall and darted over to the master’s chair with a smug smile on her face. This had become somewhat of a competition to her and Sting. They would race to the chair every time they came in, as it had, for some reason, completely fascinated the white haired wizard. She had won this time, and she sat on her knees as Sting ran in after her.

“That’s not fair, Em.”

“Not my fault you’re slow.”

“You tripped me!”

“Miss Emi,” Yukino spoke up as she tried to contain her laughter, “do you want to go on a request with me later?”

Emi’s eyes lit up and everyone groaned. You see, ever since Emi had started taking requests, there had been...complaints from the clients. She had a habit of going overboard, and the council had spoken to them a few times about it. 

“Absolutely not,” Sting cut down. “She has to accompany me on a master’s request.”

“Boooooo!”

Sting gave a side eye to his mate and made his way over to the chair that she was sitting on. He casually picked her up and sat down on the seat himself before placing her on his lap. Emi seemed to have no problem with it, and the guild members had gotten kind of used to the scene by that point. 

“Lector, are you coming?”

“Of course I am, Lady Emiko. I like going on master requests, yes.”

“Let me guess...another meeting?”

“You’ll be able to see Makarov,” he casually mentioned. 

He heard a small gasp and saw that she had a bright smile on her face. 

“Master Grampa!”

She hopped off his lap and darted back to the apartment to get ready.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: One more chapter until the end!


	148. The End

Once they were all set, they travelled to Era to attend the masters’ meeting. Emi looked around and studied each master and their company. She quickly left Sting’s side when she spotted Makarov.

“Master Grampa, I missed you!”

Before he could process it, he was pulled into a tight hug. He recovered shortly after and gave a hearty laugh.

“It seems you haven’t lost your spark.”

“I really miss you all. I wish Sabertooth was closer to Magnolia so I could visit more often.”

“Yeah, brat. Now we have to listen to Natsu complain all the time because he doesn’t have your cooking.”

Emi turned behind her at the familiar voice and quickly hugged him. Laxus staggered back a little from the impact, but hugged back.

“How’s the tigers treating you?”

“Well it’s certainly different than Fairy Tail that’s for sure. It’s not as rowdy, and we do things more by the books.”

“Yeah, except when you go to destroy everything,” Sting muttered before turning to Makarov and Laxus. “It’s nice to see you again.”

“I don’t destroy everything! It’s not my fault that things break.”

Makarov chuckled and patted her shoulder. 

“You’ll always be a Fairy Tail wizard deep down, child. Those habits aren’t going away.”

Sting rolled his eyes with a small ‘of course’ before making his way to the table. Makarov joined him soon after, followed by the other masters. Laxus and Emi leaned against the far wall and watched the discussion. 

“Brings back memories, eh?” Emi joked.

Laxus wore a small smile and responded, “You could say that. So did you tell him yet?”

“Tell him what?”

Laxus gave her a blank look before casually pointing to her stomach. She giggled and gave a ‘not yet’ before leaning back more.

“You would think he would already know,” she laughed, “but it seems that he’s a little oblivious to his senses.”

Laxus snorted and looked over towards the meeting table again.

“I’m sure he’ll figure it out.”

“I doubt it, which is why I’m just gonna tell him.”

\-------

“That was super fun!” Emi shouted as they left the meeting. “We should get Fairy Tail and Sabertooth together more often.”

“You know that wasn’t the point of this meeting, right?”

“Lady Emiko knows that, Sting. She’s the smartest wizard ever!”

“I thought I was!”

“You’re the strongest wizard ever, Sting. Lady Emiko is the smartest.”

Emi tittered and teased, “All brawn no brain, Eucliffe.”

He huffed and dragged her back to the apartment once they reached Sabertooth’s town. Emi lazily walked to her room and threw herself on the bed. Sting poked his head in her room and inched closer to her.

“Hey so I was just curious, and feel free to correct me if I’m wrong, but are you--”

“Pregnant?” She laughed. “It’s about damn time, Sting.”

“ _...Huh?_ ”

Emi blinked a couple times and tested, “Is that...not what you were asking?”

“Uh, no. I was gonna ask if you were okay with going on a request near Hargeon, but, uh...so you’re pregnant?”

“Wow,” she breathed, “you’re like totally oblivious. Do you purposely just ignore your instincts?”

“You’re actually pregnant?”

She gave a lopsided smile and nodded, which seemed to be the trigger for his shouting that followed. He smiled wide, almost child-like, and he bounced his weight on one foot and then another.

“How far along?”

“It’s still early. Like two months maybe.”

“This is great! Everyone probably can’t wait to hear this. Lector!”

Sting had run out of the room and loudly knocked on the exceed’s door. Lector came running quickly to open it and was met with a very energetic looking dragon slayer. 

“Em has something to say.”

Lector followed Sting back into Emi’s room and waited patiently for her to address him. 

“How do you feel about expanding this little group?”

The exceed looked confused and asked Emi what she was talking about. Sting butted in and revealed his mate’s pregnancy before Emi could explain, which caused her to start laughing. Lector flew up to Emi’s face and squished her cheeks before smiling and doing loops in the air.

“Lady Emiko, you have to let me teach the baby about all the flowers!”

“Deal.”

\-------

“ _You did this_ ,” Emi hissed as she screwed her eyes shut.

They were visiting Fairy Tail when Emi’s water broke, and they had quickly brought her to Porlyusica. Her hand tightly crushed Sting’s as he held it for comfort. There was a scream from the white haired woman as she tried to push. 

“Come on Emi,” Natsu cheered. “You can definitely do this no problem!”

“What the fuck are you doing in here?” Sting shouted.

“I came to check on Emi. Duh.”

“Aye, sir!”

“Natsu if you’re gonna be in here,” Emi harshly stated, “you better give me your hand.”

The fire dragon slayer slowly walked over to the bed and outstretched his hand. It was immediately grabbed, and he winced with the pain shooting through his arm. 

“Easy, Em. You’re gonna be okay. I’m right here.”

She screamed again and threw her head back against the headrest. 

“You have a couple more pushes to go,” Porlyusica stated matter-of-factly.

She started crying and gasped for breath.

“I can’t...do it anymore.”

“You can do it. You’re almost there.”

She let go of Natsu’s hand, which the dragon slayer was very grateful for, and screamed again. There was a knock on the medical room door before it opened. Laxus stood in the doorway and crossed his arms, looking at the scene with boredom.

“Why was I called here? I don’t wanna see this. It’s gross.”

“Get your fucking ass over here right now.”

Laxus looked taken back by Emi’s sudden hostility, but obeyed nonetheless when he saw that Sting’s hand was turning blue.

“Does it hurt that bad?”

“No of course not,” Emi sarcastically spoke. “I’m just being dramatic.”

Laxus rolled his eyes and stood on the side where Natsu had left and held out his hand. She immediately grabbed it, squeezing it tight when she was instructed to push again. The white haired woman started to feel lightheaded, and she was running out of strength to push. 

“One more,” Porlyusica revealed. “The head is out.”

Sting could sense Emi’s exhaustion. He leaned down to her ear and started whispering encouragements, multiple counts of ‘I love you’ peppered in between. She pushed once more and looked down.

“Where’s the baby?”

“You need one more push.”

“I just did the last push!” She snapped.

“You didn’t push hard enough, so now you need to do another.”

Emi glared at the woman before putting all her strength into pushing. She could barely see anymore, as stars filled her eyes. Her head felt fuzzy, but it quickly subsided when she heard the small cries. She tried to catch her breath so she could look at her baby, and she leaned back on the bed so she could rest. Both Laxus and Sting were given their hands back, and Sting started to shake it to get rid of the cramps that she had given him. He smiled warmly when he was handed his child.

“Why do you get to hold them first?” Emi sassed. “I did all the work.”

Sting let out a loud laugh before leaning down to hand off their child to his mate. All of her anger and irritation disappeared when she saw the tiny nose and saliva coated mouth. 

Porlyusica addressed the parents, saying, “You have a baby boy. Don’t drop him.”

“Hello my sweet baby boy,” Em cooed. “I don’t really know what to say to you because I’m very tired. I can already tell you’re gonna be as stubborn as your father with the way you refused to come out.”

Sting rolled his eyes and leaned back down to see his son again.

“Well? What are you two naming the child?” Porlyusica pressed. 

The blond dragon slayer looked at Emi and tested, “Are you sure you don’t wanna go with Cain?”

She shook her head, leaning up to kiss him quickly. 

“I think Abel fits him better.”

“Well then hello there, Abel. I can promise you that you’re in good hands. Your mother will kick the shit out of anyone that tries to hurt you. I will too, but she really packs a punch.”

Emi smacked him on the arm and chided, “Don’t swear around him.”

Another knock was heard on the door, and Porlyusica scoffed before whipping the door open and yelling at everyone being too close to her house without permission. Lector flew over the crowd and landed on Emi’s stomach to see the baby.

“Lector, this is Abel.”

“Hello Abel. My name is Lector and we’re gonna have lots of fun, yes.”

Emi turned to the side and smiled up at the lightning dragon slayer, joking, “Hey thanks for the hand. Really appreciate it. And I think Natsu does too.”

She handed Abel to Sting so she could shift into a more comfortable position. Sting suggested that she get some rest, so everyone left the small family alone for the time being. Before Laxus could leave, Emi caught his hand.

“What?” He grunted. “You’re supposed to be resting, you brat.”

He was met with a crooked smile.

“Would you like to be his godfather?”

Laxus blinked a couple times and tested, “Me? Why?”

“What do you mean why?” Sting quipped. “You protected her for years and made sure she was safe. Not to mention the fact that you guys are close and she trusts you.”

“Yeah but--”

Laxus took another look at the pair before his eyes wandered over to the baby.

“Do I have to like, babysit all the time or something?”

“Well that shouldn’t be a problem for you,” Emi teased. “From what I witnessed you’re great with kids.”

Laxus rolled his eyes and made his way back over to the bed to ruffle her hair, earning a small whine from her. 

“Well?”

Laxus nodded, silently agreeing. The three wizards smiled at each other, and Laxus left to give the family their space. The two parents just stared at their son with shit-eating smiles. 

“I love you,” Emi stated. 

“I love you too.”

“Not you, you idiot,” Emi corrected. “I was talking to Abel.”

Sting looked at her shocked before rolling his eyes and adjusting his hold on his baby.

“But I do love you as well, for the record.”

They shared a quick kiss before Emi started to drift off, and soon she was asleep. Sting gently took a seat next to her and wiggled his finger in Abel’s face, gasping when the baby gripped his finger.

“Damn kid, you’re not even an hour old yet and you still have your mother’s strength. You’re gonna be a handful.”

His eyes ran over Emi’s sleeping figure before drifting back to Abel.

“Wouldn’t have it any other way.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Thank you all so so much for reading! This has been a long journey, but it's coming to an end here. It's been fun writing this, so I hope y'all liked it.


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